Mists
by zerOrange
Summary: Tentative Title. Follow the story of Naruto Uzumaki, son of whirlpool, legacy of The Yellow Flash as he becomes a hero. But the adventures of Minato Namikaze do not end with the sealing of Kyuubi. Tentative Rating. Pairing(s) will not be declared. Novel length fic.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, or any other previously published characters, techniques ect. used in this story.**

**A/N: Hello! This is my first fanfiction story. I have been reading the stories off of this site for several years now. This being said, It is entirely possible that some my ideas may be similar to another writers on this site. If you feel that I am using your ideas, please send me a PM - I will try to settle any problems you feel are necessary****.**

**On another note. The category for this story is -Unspecified-. This story will contain many aspects of several different genre and will not be limited to any specific category. Furthermore, I will not announce any pairings - you will just have to find out for yourself. I am open to all forms of criticism. If you feel I have made a mistake, or feel I should add, change or remove something. please feel free to say so.**

**Again this is my first story, and have not established how I am going to write this story. You will likely notice several inconsistencies between Japanese and English linguistics(such as saying 'Water Style' over 'Suiton' and so forth.). If you decide to review, I would appreciate some input on how you think it should be written, I'm not sure what the public's preferred standard is. I have tried to write this story assuming the reader knows about the naruto-verse and how things work, but when necessary I may make changes. If you feel my explanations for simple naruto-verse concepts in unnecessary. please say so. This is the type of feedback I would appreciate. so Thanks in advance. **

**Chapter 1: Tails of the Gutsy Ninja**

It was a warm summer day in the Land of Fire. After several years of conflict, it seemed that the tension of wartime had finally faded. Citizens of Konohagakure no Sato and its surrounding villages had finally settled into a comfortable peace. In one of the smaller forests on the outskirts of Konoha, a tall man with a mane of spiky white hair relaxed in one of the many large trees beside a river. The sunlight pierced through the thick forest treetops bathing the clearing in a warm light. The man was oblivious to the world as he wrote in his black notebook. After several hours, the man suddenly snapped his notebook shut and tucked it away into his traveling pack with a sigh.

The man jumped from his comfortable resting place and landed lightly on the ground. After a loud stretch he stared at the center of the clearing expectantly.

At that moment, a cloud of white smoke exploded in the clearing. revealing a large blue toad.

**"Jiraiya! The Great Elder Toad has requested your presence at once."** The blue toad stated in a rough voice.

The normally aloof man gained a serious expression. "The Elder? ...Of course, Ill head to Myoboku immediately". The toad gazed at him as if not fully believing him before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Jiraiya reached into his pack and pulled out a scroll and unfurled it. He glanced at the complex seal array for a moment before placing his hand in the center of a circle on the page. He closed his eyes in focus before disappearing from the clearing as well, Leaving no trace of ever being there.

**Mount Myoboku**

Immediately after appearing in the realm of the toad summons. Jiraiya strode purposefully into the large cave that served as the Elder Toad's home.

A large elderly toad flanked by two much smaller but equally old toads were already waiting for him as he sat cross-legged before them.

**"Ahh, Jiraiya-chan. I'm surprised that you came so quickly. I expected you to have taken your time with your 'research' before joining us."** the large toad mused aloud teasingly.

"Ha! I would have, if I had any decent material..." he said this part with a slight pout. "but luckily I was only working on a new seal when I received your summon, Elder".

The Elder Toad chuckled amusedly before giving Jiraiya a firm look and getting down to business. **"Jiraiya, I have summoned you here in regards to the child of prophecy..".**

"What of him? Minato seems to be doing quite well since the war ended. His political strength as Hokage is doing wonders in the Ninja World. In the short time since the war ended. He has all but sealed alliances with two of the other Five Great Nations, at this rate we may actually achieve a lasting peace." Jiraiya explained.

"Hmm... Yes. Your student is indeed quite the hero, but whether he is _the one_ is unclear... Jiraiya, The child of prophecy will bring either salvation... or destruction to the world of ninja, and you will be his sensei... I have summoned you in order to remind you this. And to warn you that a great evil is about to befall the Ninja World." The Elder Toad warned before closing his eyes and falling into a meditative sleep.

Jiraiya rose from his seat on the cave floor and returned to his world in a cloud of smoke.

**Konoha - Hokage Tower**

In one of the several conference rooms in the Hokage Tower, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in a comfortable silence with his wife Biwako. They were waiting on his successor, Minato, to arrive with his expecting wife Kushina. Although he had retired, Hiruzen had the aura of a powerful shinobi. In his prime, he was known as The God of Shinobi, The Professor, but of all his titles - he was the Sandaime Hokage. Even now, with graying brown hair, wrinkled face and tired posture - he still reigned as one of the most powerful ninja alive in the world. Hiruzen had been the student of both the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and his brother; the Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju. He had carried on not only their power, but also their belief in the Will of Fire - The belief that love is the key to peace, and is the source of true power. That every Konoha shinobi should love, fight for, and protect his village and comrades with their lives. Hiruzen had made it his goal in life to instill this belief into the next generation. As he sat with his wife, he thought of his successor, and how bright the Will of Fire blazed in his eyes. He truly was a genius - a powerful shinobi, who harnessed a true love for his village and fought for peace.

"_He is truly the Chosen One that Jiraiya spoke of" _Hiruzen thought to himself as he waited for Minato to arrive.

Just then a young couple walked into the conference room. A tall handsome man in his twenties, with blonde spiky hair that framed his slender face perfectly; and a young woman with long, straight, fiery red hair. She stood a head shorter than the man, and had a slender body but sported a rather expanded stomach hidden under the purple dress she wore.

"Ah, Minato! Kushina! How are you both?" Hiruzen said as he rose to greet his successor and his wife.

"We are fine Sarutobi-sensei - Though Kushina says Naruto should be here very soon.." Minato said in a slightly nervous voice.

"That is precisely why we have asked you here. Kushina, as we have discussed before, because you are the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi; we need to have you give birth in a secret area outside of the village. You will accompanied by a barrier team, a Seal Master, and Biwako herself will deliver your baby." Hiruzen explained.

"As there are only two Seal Masters in the world, and Jiraiya is on an important mission looking for Orochimaru - Minato will be assigned to maintain the seal while you give birth." Hiruzen continued.

"You will gather what you need, and meet me at the Main Gate in 1 hour. We will then meet the barrier squad, and begin preparations." Biwako said in a kind yet commanding voice that left no room for negotiation.

Kushina nodded and smiled. "Understood! We will meet you there. Let's go Minato!" Kushina said as she excitedly ran out the door.

"Always so energetic Kushina... Can't we just walk?" Minato complained amusedly as he chased after his wife.

**Konoha - Main Gate**

Kushina was approaching the Main Gate to meet Minato and Biwako, when she saw her closest friend exiting a store. Tightening her grip on the bag she had packed for herself she ran over to greet her friend.

"Mikoto! Hey! I was just...Eek! Is that him!?" Kushina said excitedly as she approached her friend.

Mikoto Uchiha smiled and lifted the bundle she was holding up to her long time friend. "Yes! Kushina, I would like you to meet my son; Sasuke Uchiha!" Mikoto announced with a smile.

"Oh Mikoto! He is so adorable!" Kushina gushed.

"He is! and he will be a handsome, powerful, ninja some day." Mikoto said as she kissed her baby on the forehead.

Kushina leaned into her friend conspirationally. "So...does it hurt?".

Mikoto gave Kushina a blank look before bursting out into laughter. "Hah! So there IS something that scares you, eh?".

"_Well!?_" Kushina prompted.

"Ill never tell!" Mikoto teased, sticking her tongue out slightly.

"What!? WHY!"

"Consider it payback for that prank on my wedding night!" Mikoto retorted, a little heat in her tone.

After a short conversation, and a promise to meet when she returned to the village. Kushina continued to the Main Gate to meet with Minato. After checking out with the guards they made a hasty departure from the village.

**Secret Location - Outskirts of Konoha**

Kushina had gone into labor shortly after arriving at the hidden shelter designated by Hiruzen. Minato had immediately ran out to inform the barrier team and ANBU guards that the moment had arrived. Said ANBU diligently reported to their posts, and prepared for the unlikely event of attack. Minato, as the powerful figurehead that he was insisted that his chosen units should practice a constant vigilance and to expect anything. These were some of the most proficient ninja his village had to offer, and they would protect their leader with their lives.

It was this same powerful figurehead that was shaking in a nervous fear just moments later as he watched his wife scream in agony.

"But...but Biwako-san! I've never seen Kushina scream like this.. Not even in the worst parts of the war! Are you sure she is okay?" Minato cowered.

Without looking at him Biwako admonished him. "A man could never understand the pain she is going through. For Kami's sake, Minato! You are the Yondaime Hokage! Be a man! You must focus on maintaining the seal and keeping the Nine-tailed Fox at bay!".

"R-Right!. I'm on it!" Minato exclaimed as he focused as much of his attention as possible on the seal that was glowing on Kushina's stomach.

After a very intense delivery it seemed all had gone well.

"Thats it! You did it Kushina-chan! He is a healthy baby boy!" Biwako said happily as she brought the newly born Naruto away to clean him up. "Minato! Do not lose focus on the Seal! We are not out of the woods yet. The delivery has greatly weekend the seal as well as Kushina! This is when the Kyuubi will attempt to force its way out of the seal. You must keep it at bay!" Biwako insisted.

Minato said nothing, but was ecstatic to hear the delivery was a success. However, as soon as he heard the cries of his son, he had felt a powerful push from the Kyuubi. Minato now had both hands held over the seal and a bright glow was emitting from his hands as he focused on suppressing the Kyuubi.

*_THUD*_

"Biwako! NARUTO!" Kushina screamed hoarsely.

Minato averted his focus behind him and saw a sight that made his blood run cold.

Standing above the still form of Biwako Sarutobi, was a tall man wearing a black cloak ordained with red clouds, and a large round orange mask that covered his entire head, except for a single eye-hole. In his arms he held a kunai knife to the neck of the still crying Naruto.

That moment seemed to drag on for an eternity before the masked assassin spoke.

"Minato Namikaze...Step away from the Jinchuuriki, or your son dies." The man said in a deep emotionless voice.

"NOT NARUTO! LET HIM GO!" Kushina screamed painfully.

"Wait! Hold on! Don't do anything rash! Let's try to talk about this." Minato suggested trying with all his might to maintain a politically strong tone while still holding the seal that was continuously thrashing against his lowered concentration. "Who are you? How did you know we were here? How did you get through the barrier? What is it you want?" Minato interrogated in the hopes of stalling for time.

"_If I could just suppress the Kyuubi, then I can fully focus on the situation." _Minato thought to himself.

"You are truly an incredible adversary, Minato Namikaze, to so quickly take hold of a situation and plan a strategy shows the truly remarkable ability you have as the Hokage." The man said amusedly in his cold voice.

"My name is...unimportant. I have...ways of attaining information. I have been planning this operation for months, and have been waiting for the perfect moment to make my move. You do not think a simple barrier and a few amateur ninja could stand much of a challenge for me do you, Minato Namikaze?" the assassin informed, the arrogance evident in his tone.

_"This is impossible! Those were some of my best teams! How could he defeat them without alerting us to his presence? Wait..red clouds... Could this be that man? So that means his target isn't Kushina, but.. " _he thought frantically, his apprehension rising at the realization.

"My target...is the Kyuubi no Kitsune." the assassin declared. "I will not say it again. Step away from the Jinchuuriki, or your son will die."

"Wait! We can wor-" Minato was cut off as the cloaked assassin made his move.

"So be it!" he tossed the baby into the air and prepared to strike with his knife.

"NARUTO!" Kushina screamed in horror.

As the arc of the strike descended on the falling baby, a flash of yellow blocked the assassin's vision. In that moment his victim and Minato had both vanished completely. With a dark chuckle the man approached the defenseless Kushina.

"Now, Jinchuuriki, I will extract the Kyuubi from your body. Unfortunately...This process will end your life...Farewell, Jinchuuriki." the mysterious assailant said as he activated his Sharingan Eye and sent Kushina into unconsciousness.

Back in the village Minato was placing Naruto into the crib he had constructed in the Hokage's Office. Night had fallen and Hiruzen it seemed had returned home. Turning from the crib, he gathered chakra for one of his favorite lutsu.

_**Shadow Clone Jutsu! **_Three perfect copies of Minato appeared before him awaiting his orders.

"You two stay and guard Naruto! Do not let anyone enter this room under any circumstances!" Turning to the third clone he addressed it. "Go to Sarutobi-sensei! Inform him what has happened tell him to gather all active duty Jounin and Chuunin to prepare for deployment! We will be under attack within the hour!" Minato commanded.

The third clone nodded in confirmation and vanished in a flash of yellow.

After checking that Naruto had fallen asleep. Minato flashed away. Hoping that he will make it in time to save his love and stop the assassin from unleashing the Kyuubi.

"Minato.. will.. stop you!" Kushina gasped as the newly identified Uchiha went through the final set of handsigns. The seal had just been broken, and the chakra of the kyuubi was flooding the area, marking the release from the seal.

**"Fuuin: Release!" **The mysterious assailant intoned. With a blood curdling scream the remainder of the Kyuubi's chakra in Kushina's body exploded outwards; destroying the cabin's walls and converging in a single point. Forming a giant red nine-tailed Fox.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune, the most powerful of the nine bijuu was released upon the world once again. The massive being of power turned its head toward the humans that stood at its feet.

**"YOU! I WILL DESTROY YOU HUMAN! YOU WILL NOT CONTROL ME AG-" **The savage declaration by the Kyuubi was cut short the moment it had made eye contact with the cloaked ninja.

"Now! Kyuubi! Destroy Konoha! Let none survive! Destroy EVERYTHING! the Uchiha commanded.

With a mythical roar, the Kyuubi turned towards the unsuspecting village, and began to carve slow devastating path in its wake.

Before the assassin could begin the evil maniacal laughter that all villains were required to perform after a successful plan. He was interrupted by the voice of Kushina.

**"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!" **Kushina grunted as she fired a condensed bullet of water from her palm; but the attack seemed to just barely miss her target and smashed into a stone a short distance away; reducing it to very small pieces.

"Still alive are we?" The mysterious assailant chuckled as he turned to face the ragged young woman. Kushina's once beautiful image was transformed into a gruesome sight. Her creamy skin was scarred with dozens of bleeding cuts and bruises, her hair was drenched in sweat causing it to clinged to her face and body, her body barely covered by shredded bedding she had manage to cling to. But most disturbing was her eyes. An all consuming rage filled her once alluring blue eyes.

"The Uzumaki Clan is truly remarkable...for you to survive the extraction of a bijuu - the most powerful bijuu no less - speaks volumes of the powerful chakra your clan is famous for, Kushina Uzumaki." the man complimented as he withdrew a kunai from his cloak. "It's a shame that you are the last of your clan..I suppose the famous Uzumaki Clan will end with you...and your son, of course".

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY BABY YOU BASTARD!" Kushina yelled her voice cracking.

"And I suppose _you_ will stop me? Heh heh. No, I-" the man's sentence was cut short when a yellow blur flashed in front of Kushina, and then quickly flashing away with her. Leaving the assassin alone in the ravaged clearing.

Just as the Uchiha was preparing to persue the Kyuubi, he was stopped when a yellow light flashed into the clearing revealing a very pissed Minato Namikaze; fully equipped in his standard Jounin uniform and a strange looking kunai knife in hand.

"Ah! So you want a fight do you? I suppose I could spare some time to play with the _Legendary_ Yellow Flash of Konoha.." the man taunted.

Both ninja stood their ground for a moment, neither taking a stance or offering any sound or movement. As the tension between the two powerful ninja built, a cool eerie breeze blew through the clearing. At once both men disappeared from sight, the only indication of movement being the dust expelled from the points the two took off from - and the points they made contact with.

Both ninja exchanged attacks, neither seeming to touch the other. Minato launched a flurry of combinations at the assassin, who seemed impossibly able to avoid every single attack. after an unsuccessful swipe with his kunai, Minato put some distance between himself and his opponent so he could think.

_"What is going on here? I know that last swipe made contact..but it phased right through him! What kind of just is he using? Could it be..he is using a space-time ninjutsu? _Minato thought as he reached into the ninja pouch on his belt.

"It seems you've figured me out...impressive, Minato Namikaze. You know that I am utilizing a space-time ninjutsu to avoid harm. My jutsu is not much different from your own..the legendary Hiraishin. Tell me, Minato Namikaze, is it true that you had decimated all of Iwagakure's forces during the Third Great War with that single jutsu? How does it work? I can truly appreciate the work of another powerful ninja such as yourself.. I wonder how your space-time jutsu stands up against my own.." the man arrogantly taunted.

"How about we find out?" Minato said before jumping high into the air and flinging a handful of strange kunai at his enemy. The cloaked ninja, in his arrogance, made no intention of moving as Minato made a single handsign.

**Kunai Shadow Clone Jutsu! **Minato shouted as the dozen kunai he had flung multiplied into thousands as they rained down as a wave of black steel upon the assassin.

"Impressive display of chakra!" The assassin whistled, still standing in the same spot.

Without a word and still airborne, Minato vanished in a flash of light. All around The assassin the yellow light flashed around him at impossible speeds; several times slashing right through his body but leaving no trace of ever making contact only the high wind brushing the assassin's cloud ordained cloak indicated that Minato had been attacking at all.

After several approaches and spontaneous ambushes using various ninjutsu, Minato flashed a few meters from his opponent, breathing heavily.

"_I get it now! His space time jutsu phases his body into a parallel dimension, and he phases back only to attack. So I will have to wait for him to go on the offensive and counter with a Hiraishin attack! There must be limitations to this jutsu.. If only I had more time!. I may be able to make a Fuuinjutsu to counter his space time jutsu." _Minato thought furiously.

Across the clearing, The assassin observed Minato warily. Suddenly his attention was drawn in the direction the Kyuubi had gone.

"Though this has been most entertaining...I'm afraid I must take my leave. It would seem the Kyuubi is just now encountering the first wave of resistance from Konoha. I wouldn't want to miss the destruction of my rival's prized village... Good luck stopping the Kyuubi...I will be watching, so be sure to give me a good show will you? Goodbye for now...Minato Namikaze." The assassin said villainously as he melted into the ground; leaving no trace of where he had gone.

"_Rival? does he mean me? or possibly.." _His thoughts were cut off by the sound of explosions in the distance.

Minato swore loudly before flashing back to his office.

**Konoha - Hokages office**

Minato had been making his preparations for nearly an hour. He knew that there was no way to kill the Kyuubi. It was a being of chakra, and could not be killed by normal means. His only option was to seal the Kyuubi into a new vessel, a new Jinchuuriki.

In the corner, Kushina was holding her newborn son. Her face was torn between happiness and fear. She was so happy to have her son safely in her arms, but she had come so close to losing him; and their enemy was still out there and currently attacking the village. Minato had told her his plan to seal the Kyuubi, and she was not happy. She knew her husband was hiding something; and she has a sneaking suspicion that he was planning something drastic.

Minato looked over his work with a critical eye. The seal array before him was even more infinitely as complex than normal seal arrays. In these moments where his skills as a Seal Master were used to their fullest he could truly appreciate his aptitude for the art. Fuuinjutsu was a rare skill; even the most skilled Jounin could barely pull off the most basic seals. These were often limited to mere Storage seals or Explosive tags.

The seal he was currently finishing was based off theory that had been left behind by Tobirama Senju but was a seal of his own creation. This was a seal that he was sure would surpass all other previous Bijuu sealing techniques. It would ultimately bind and suppress the Bijuu, but then would slowly convert the Bijuu's demonic chakra into chakra that would assimilate into the Jinchuuriki's Chakra System.

Minato also devised a special key that could loosen or tighten the seal, therefore allowing more or less power to leak to the Jinchuuriki. Additionally, there were dozens of other seals intertwined within the Master Seal that would provide several options for the jinchuuriki should any special circumstances arise.

A yellow flicker in his peripheral vision alerted him to his two clone's arrival. One clone wordlessly hurried over to the wall where photo's of previous hokage were hung. Removing the picture of himself from the wall revealed a steel safe with hundreds of seals carved upon it. The clone activated a storage seal on a slip of paper, unsealing a large Master Scroll. After sealing the Master Scroll within the safe, the clone replaced the picture and began carving a complex seal along the wood frame of his picture.

The remaining clone who had been sent to recon the situation outside began his report. "Boss! Our forces have been stalling the Kyuubi successfully, it has yet to reach the village walls. However, we have taken on heavy casualties. Sarutobi-sensei arrived on the battlefield a few minutes ago after evacuating the villagers into the shelters. I expect us to only have about twenty minutes worth of preparation time before our forces will be overcome."

Having finished his report the clone dispersed. The clone could have just given the report by dispersing, therefore transferring the knowlege to Minato, but had given his report audibly for Kushina's benefit.

Glancing at the seal array one last time, Minato rolled it up and rose to his feet and walked over to his wife and son.

"Kushina, I have to tell yo-" He was cut off by Kushina.

"Minato, I may not know as much about fuuinjutsu as you do, but I know what you plan to do and I'm not happy about it! How can you do this? He will be forced to live the horrible lonely life of a Jinchuuriki! You don't know what it's like! To be different! He-" This time Minato had interrupted her angry rant with a soft kiss.

"Kushina, you know this is our only option..This seal...will cost me my life to use" Kushina tried to argue further but Minato just continued. "but it will seal the Kyuubi far better than it was sealed in you, it will ensure that the Kyuubi cannot be stolen, and will eventually give Naruto the ability to seize control of all the Kyuubi's power. It will be the greatest protection...and curse that we could ever give to him."

With tears rolling down her cheeks, Kushina nodded solemnly, resigning her husband's words. "I Just hope that the loved ones we leave behind will take care of him in our absence.."

**Outskirts of Konoha**

The once lush forests beyond the north wall of the Hidden Leaf Village had been transformed into a scarred battlefield. Fires could be seen blazing across the landscape, as specially assigned teams of ninja focus their efforts to contain the spread. Craters large and small marred the terrain. Jagged sections of earth had been ripped open by the earthquakes caused by the Kyuubi's powerful tails. Just a short distance from the village walls, a large red fox with nine lashing tails could be seen thrashing about wildly as it was battled the full force of Konoha's military strength. Try as they might, the Kyuubi continued to advance on the ninja.

"Keep on the offensive! We can't let the Kyuubi enter the village!" shouted one of the commanding ninja.

"Stall it until the Hokage gets here!" another shouted.

With a demonic roar, the Kyuubi slammed its nine tails into the ground, causing several massive shards of earth to fly in all directions, impacting the village walls and several ninja who would with all likeliness not be fighting any further.

Not hesitating, the Kyuubi opened its jaws wide. The surrounding ninja who were still sending a powerful onslaught of jutsu and weaponry watched in horror as a massive ball of blood colored energy began to form in the Kyuubi's maw.

"NO! It plans to wipe out the village with a single attack!" a young masked ninja with gravity defying silver hair called out to his squad. "Team Alpha! Emergency Defensive Operation 4!" he ordered. The boy could not have been any older than sixteen, but judging by the immediate reaction and coordination of his clearly older teammates, he was their team captain.

Four ninja, dressed in traditional jonin attire, including the young captain appeared just a few yards from the Kyuubi. As one they unfurled four large scrolls over one another, dropped on one knee and slammed their hands on specific areas along the intersected scrolls.

**"Konoha Secret Fuuinjutsu: Birth of Trees!" **The four ninja intoned. A massive and complex seal expanded from the intersected scrolls in a seemingly erratic yet organized chaos of chakra. The seal was visible to most of the ninja still on the battlefield. Hiruzen Sarutobi could see it clearly from his impromptu command station just outside the village gates.

Hiruzen was beginning to to become frustrated with the situation. He had arrived on the scene of the Kyuubi's rampage what seemed like ages ago, and yet he still had yet to even reach striking range of the Kyuubi's position.

Since his arrival, he had been forced to provide assistance to the Medical Corps. who were experiencing great difficulty in moving the injured further away from the battlefield because the Kyuubi was approaching their designated medical area at an alarming rate.

As soon as the Medical Corps. had been safely moved within the village walls, Hiruzen had sent up a blue flare, signalling all ninja who were not currently assigned to duties on their Team Captain's orders, to report to him for direction. However, Hiruzen had not expected there to be so many teams not given assignments. Most - if not all the ninja not in ANBU, had swarmed to his position to report on the situation and recieve orders. It was just after he had sent out the last three teams, most of which were fresh chuunin to check on the shelters, that he saw the Kyuubi preparing its most devastating attack so far.

Before he could properly react to the large ball of destructive chakra about to be released from the Kyuubi's jaws, he saw the seal burst into existence. It was with pride and solemn reminiscence that he watched the legendary jutsu of his sensei, Hashirama Senju's _Birth of Trees. _Several dozen trees began to rise out of the ground around the four shinobi who cast the jutsu. Starting from small buds and growing into enormous trees in little over 3 seconds. Bending and twisting into a massive arced wall over the Kyuubi, that threatened to encase it completely like a jail.

With a savage roar and the blast not comparable to anything the ninja could fathom, the Kyuubi released its ball of condensed energy into the tree structure now in its path.

The light from the attack blinded Hiruzen momentarily. When his vision cleared the only remains of the short-lived yet beautiful structure of life was shards of wood and burning branches of leaves.

As he took in the visage of the many shinobi emerging from the rubble and niches where they had taken cover to begin the attack again. Hiruzen reflected on how lucky they all were that Minato had become his successor. He had done so much to improve the military strength of konoha. Konoha had not only grown in number, but the quality of shinobi had improved as well. Especially so shortly after the Third Great Ninja War, which had weakened each of the Elemental Nations greatly. But it was not just that; Minato and brought so much..._innovation _to the village and it's ninja. This was a perfect example.

After the passing of the first hokage, he and those who were old enough to remember him, never would have believed they would see his amazing and unique jutsu ever again. But Minato, along with Hiruzen's own student Jiraiya of the Sannin, had worked diligently to use their talents in Fuuinjutsu improve Konoha's military strength. The uniqueness of the type of power Minato had developed was immensely valuable to the village, as it was a power that could not be stolen, used by the village or given to allies. This particular seal, that had saved them all from the Kyuubi's attack was one of a kind, and was given to Minato's only surviving student, Kakashi Hatake, when he became ANBU Captain. It was supposed to be an emergency experimental defense, only to be used when large-scale assault was imminent. Luckily Jiraiya and Minato had been successful, and now had proof to begin developing similar seals for their shinobi to utilize. '_The potential is truly astounding...nearly infinite!' _Hiruzen thought to himself before shaking his head to clear his mind. This was one of Hiruzen's great strengths and why he was named 'The Professor', he was always thinking of ways to develop or improve in any situation, even in heat and chaos of battle.

"It's time I entered this fight!" Hiruzen declared to himself as he removed his cloak, revealing his famous battle gear. The black samurai-nin style armor was his trademark. In past wars it was known to each of the Great Nations, if you see Hiruzen Sarutobi in that gear, He meant business; which meant to expect the full power of 'The God of Shinobi' to be unleashed.

Disappearing in a swirl of leaves, which was the effect used to mask the use of Konoha's **Shunshin Jutsu. **A technique that allowed a ninja to travel a certain distance(depending on the amount of chakra used) at great speed. Hiruzen reappeared next to the four shinobi who had cast the jutsu.

"Team Alpha, Are you alright?" Upon arriving at their location he immediately noticed that the four ninja had yet to rise from their crouched positions over their scrolls. Upon further inspection, they seemed to all be breathing heavily.

"Sandaime-sama..Thank Kami your here! The Shodai Salvation Seal successfully blocked the Kyuubi's attack...but Kyuubi's power was far greater than we expected. The Birth of Trees is only as powerful as the Chakra infused, the recoil from the assault drained us all completely... I think Yugao-chan is in shock, Genma and Raido are both unconscious.." Kakashi reported between heavy breathes of air. His normally gravity-defying silver hair hung limp with sweat over his headband, and his mask, which usually covered his right eye was pulled down so it only covered his nose and lower face. His scarred right eye was closed and he was barely keeping his left eye open enough to see Hiruzen.

Hiruzen examined the three other members of the team while Kakashi spoke. After checking Raido and Genma's pulses. He confirmed they were both unconscious and were likely suffering from Chakra Exhaustion. When he turned to Yugao, the young girl was staring blankly at her scroll where her hand still was pressed against the paper. Her hand was burned lightly and was trembling, though that was the only part of her that seemed to be moving, she did not seem to be blinking. It was startling to see the young teen in this state.

"Yugao-chan, can you hear me? Are you alright? Can you move?" Hiruzen asked deliberately. Not receiving any response he made a cut on his left hand with a kunai from his pouch and went through a quick series of handsigns before slamming his hand on the ground and calling,

**Ninja Art Summoning: Monkey's Royal Guard!**

A plume of smoke marked the arrival of four large regally dressed monkeys. They each wore Konoha style jounin flak-jackets over their regal attire and were each armed in their own respective weapons of specialty.

Not hesitating for greetings or introductions, Hiruzen made a firm yet respectful command.

"Take these ninja to the Hospital quickly! Inform the Medical Corps that these ninja are to be treated immediately, then please bring a message to Enma. Ask him to pass a message to the Chief Toad, Jiraiya of the Sannin has been recalled from his current mission by authority of the Sandaime Hokage, and to immediately report back to the village. Inform his of the Kyuubi's attack and possible involvement of enemy ninja! Please Hurry!".

Nodding as sign of understanding their orders, the monkey-ape nin lifted each of the fallen ninja over their shoulders, and took off at a high speed towards the village.

Turning towards the Kyuubi, which had not made any progress since the Birth of Trees was unleashed, was currently swiping at the Several Konoha ninja who were currently fighting it. With a roar and another swipe of one of its tails, another earthquake rumbled under their feet.

Just as Hiruzen was beginning a long series of handsigns for a jutsu he hoped would stall the Kyuubi for a longer period to allow the troops to regroup, A Giant Toad slammed down behind him.

Turning his back on the Kyuubi, He saw that the giant toad was Gamabunta, the Chief Toad Boss. Gamabunta towered over all of the ninja, a size comparable to two large houses. Gamabunta was sporting his signature yakuza cloak, pipe, and tanto secured around his midsection. Atop his large green head, stood Minato Namikaze fully garbed in his shinobi gear and a large scroll on his back. Next to him, crouched Kushina Uzumaki. Kushina, also in her jonin gear, was holding a bundle of blankets and looked very pale and appeared to be having a hard time standing, but still she kept a strong face.

The ninja all across the battlefield cheered loudly at the sight of Gamabunta and their leader, redoubling their efforts with hope renewed the ninja began to bombard Kyuubi with several jutsu causing it to be distracted from the new arrival.

Minato seized Kushina around the waist and jumped down next to Hiruzen who had a relieved look on his face.

"Minato-kun! Finally you are here!" Hiruzen said. Turning to Kushina he continued. "Kushina-chan, I'm so relieved that you're okay. When Minato's clone told me you were attacked. and that the Kyuubi was freed, I was afraid the assassin had.." Hiruzen's ramblings were interrupted by Minato.

"Sarutobi-Sensei, I'm sorry but there isn't time for this. We need to seal the Kyuubi, now." Minato was in a hurry because if he didn't act quickly. The man with the shroud of red clouds could make another appeance and interrupt the sealing, which would leaving them all with much bigger problems than they had now.

"Right. So What's our next move? Are you going to re-seal the Kyuubi into Kushina-chan?" At this Kushina's eyes started to tear up. She had suggested this to Minato, but he was convinced the Kyuubi, would merely break out of the seal because of how weak her body was after the extracting. It just reminded her of the feeling of being weak, a feeling she hadn't felt since she was still in the academy.

"No, Sarutobi-Sensei, Kushina's body is too weak to seal again after the Kyuubi was extracted. In fact, she is quite lucky to be standing let alone living at all. Her chakra...is slowly fading as her coils were heavily damaged, her organs will start to fail once her chakra is gone. She doesn't have much time." Minato said sadly but still kept to commanding presence; lest their ninja somehow notice his state and lose faith.

"I see...". Sarutobi looked to the bundle in Kushina's arms and immediately knew what Minato had in mind. "Minato-kun, Are you sure you want to do this? You will be placing such a heavy burden on your child. Being a Jinchuuriki is exactly what the name says. They are a _sacrifice _Minato, You do not need me to tell you how Jinchuuriki are usually treated..."

"Sensei, I have faith that the village I have loved, fought for, and sacrificed for, will respect my last wishes and treat my son as the hero he is. and he will not be alone as other Jinchuuriki usually are, the loved ones we leave behind will care for and love him in our stead." Minato said with determination in his eyes.

"Yes Minato, bu- Wait! 'last wishes'? 'leave behind'? What the hell are you getting at, Minato?" Hiruzen demanded as he realized what Minato was implying.

"This seal... is my greatest work yet, Sensei." Minato began as he watched the Kyuubi thrash and claw at the ground where the many shinobi still fought. "It's called the Eight Trigram Divination Seal - _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_. I added several adjustments to the design, but as proud of it as I am, and as much I'm sure you could truly appreciate the work, I can't explain it all now. Here's the basics; I will draw the seal onto Naruto-kun's stomach, then I will activate the Seal on my Back, Then I will Seal the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi will be sealed unlike it ever has before. It will not be able to be freed without Naruto-kun's doing it himself. I have designed it to have several special features and failsafe. The seal will slowly drain the Kyuubi of its chakra and convert it into Naruto-kun's Chakra and allow it to pass through his chakra system. I left a letter explaining it in your desk in the Hokage Tower".

Hiruzen was stunned but didn't think for a second that there wasn't a catch. Hiruzen was a very intelligent man, whose wisdom went far beyond the ninja arts. He knew that there would have to be some sort of exchange equal to the result Minato sought. He made to voice his thought, "What's the cost though Minato? There cannot be such a result without some sort of exchange or source to power I-WAIT. what do you mean MY desk in the Hokage Tower?" Hiruzen stopped, realization and a slight bit of horror appearing on his features.

At this, Minato and Kushina smirked slightly. "Jiji, I'm afraid your old nemesis has missed you a great deal, and anxiously awaits your return." Kushina joked, attempting at a bit of humor in this depressing moment.

"Minato, You can't be serious. If this seal is going to kill the user, why don't you let me do it? I know enough Fuuinjutsu to activate the seal, there's no reason for you to die and abandon your son!" Hiruzen pleaded.

"I'm sorry sensei, but the complexity of the Kyuubi's sealing is more than you could know to complete the sealing successfully. This is my choice sensei, I will make this sacrifice for my son, for my friends, for my village." Minato said resolutely.

After a moment of contemplation Hiruzen spoke. "And here I thought I would never have to deal with that damned paperwork again." Minato smiled at this.

"I'm counting on you and Jiraiya-sensei to take care of Naruto for us. Please care for him and teach him all you can in our stead. Be sure that he grows into a fine man and ninja. Teach him well, so that he can take the hat from you someday, and who knows? you may still get a decent retirement after he becomes Hokage." Minato said amusedly. "I currently have about 150 clones setting our affairs in order. They will leave documentation of everything that I have been working on, and was thinking of working on. They will seal off the Namikaze Estate and Clan Compound all of our important possessions and other intellectual property are sealed and preserved there. Only Naruto can unseal everything once he claims his Inheritance and knowingly swipes his blood on the seal behind my picture in the Hokage Office. It might seem like a lot to ask Sensei, but I've left everything you'll need and need to know in a letter on your desk."

A roar and sudden pressure in the air interrupted their conversation. "It's time, Goodbye Sarutobi-Sensei. Thank you for everything." Minato said as he gave his long-time mentor and grandfather figure a hug and then stepped back for his wife to also give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you for everything Jiji. Please take good care of Naruto for me." Kushina said with teary eyes.

"Of course, Kushina-chan. Of course I will." Hiruzen choked as he hugged Kushina tightly.

Without further hesitations Minato stepped up to his wife and they both disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

**"Well I believe this is my signal to enter the fray!" **Gamabunta's voice boomed over Hiruzen's head. Hiruzen watched as the large toad unsheathed his enormous blade and leapt towards the Kyuubi.

"I guess I should find a place to observe the sealing so I can get Naruto-kun out of there." Hiruzen said to himself before also disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

The Leaf Ninja had almost completely halted their attack on the Kyuubi. Most had put a great deal of distance between themselves and the tailed beast who was now waging an intense battle with Gamabunta, the Chief Toad and their Hokage's most powerful summon creature. Entire Teams of shinobi had regrouped with their team mates and friends to gape in awe of the titanic struggle.

Gamabunta was putting up a great fight, utilizing a mixture of swordplay and his signature **Water Style: Toad Water Bullet Jutsu!, **he was keeping the Kyuubi solely focused on him. Therefore, allowing the Leaf nin to collect their wounded and regroup. Gamabunta kept his distance though, leaping in to strike at the Kyuubi before leaping away just as quickly to launch another powerful blast of water. He kept this pattern going for as long as he could, knowing full well that if the Kyuubi was able to land a powerful blow to him, he would be forced to reverse summon back to the summon realm.

**With Minato and Kushina**

Minato had just finished drawing the complex seal array onto Naruto's stomach, who was sleeping soundly despite the turmoil around him. Minato had placed him under a light genjutsu to induce sleep so he could complete the seal without the newborn accidently moving and ruining the seal.

"I think that's it Kushina. It's all ready... Are you ready?" Minato asked his wife, his normal ability to keep an image of brightness under any circumstance seemed to be completely gone now. All that remained was sad eyes and a voice that cracked with emotion.

Kushina said nothing, she merely nodded in confirmation. She could not trust her voice. She feared that if she spoke, she might break down again. They had both already said all they had wanted, and even had said their goodbyes before they left the Hokage Tower. Kushina had broken down twice since Minato told her his plan to seal the Kyuubi into their son; she did not want to lose it again on the battle field, she _could not. _It would put Minato's entire plan in jeopardy, and they couldn't afford that, not now.

"When you're ready...place both your hands over the seal here." he said as he pointed to a part of the seal near the middle. "Just like that. Great...Now like I said before... When I activate the seal it will drain the remainder of your chakra and place into a deep sleep. You won't feel a thing when you go, I promise." Minato explained.

He knew she was not afraid to die, all shinobi know that their lives were expected to be short and would likely end painfully in combat. Very few ninja ever met their end comfortably. Still he felt the need to assure her that he would make it as painless as possible. And he had done so. He had been completely sure that she would be in a comfortably deep sleep when the chakra left her body. She would not have to feel her organs slowly failing and her own death. He owed her that much.

Minato finally leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips. before saying, "I love you Kushina. Thank you for making me the happiest man in the world for knowing you. I don't know what will happen after we leave this world, but I promise you; I will fight for eternity to find you in the afterlife." As he said this he tried to convey all of the love and determination he had into this statement and their kiss.

Still Kushina said nothing. With tears in her eyes and a bright smile on her face she nodded and gave him a deep kiss in return. "Ill hold you to that Minato-kun." she finally said. Her voice seemed a bit happier that it had been since the assassin had attacked them. Perhaps it was because she knew she had the opportunity have her consciousness sealed into her son. This seal Minato had worked so hard on would allow her to meet her son someday. It would seal a portion of her soul and consciousness into the seal to allow her to visit him in his mindscape someday. As a Jinchuuriki, she was well versed the ways the mind would create a world to contain the Tailed Beast sealed within them. She would be able to visit this world within her sons mind someday.

Once they separated Minato made a long series of handsigns. Kushina waited patiently and watched her sons sleeping face with a sad smile. After almost a minute of waiting she thought maybe Minato had stopped the sealing, when she turned to look at her husband, it was just in time to see the last of the handsigns of the complex just. A blinding blue light flashed from what seemed like everywhere. Then she knew only darkness.

After completing the sealing jutsu, Minato leapt to catch his wife before her body hit the ground. He watched sadly as her face changed from a mixture of confusion and a small amount of fear to a soft smile and light blush as the genjutsu settled her mind as she slept. This made him smile slightly. He was glad she seemed to be enjoying the dream he had created for her final moments of life. He averted his eyes from her face, not wanting to think about how she was dying in his arms.

He laid her on the ground next to her child. Said child was still sleeping soundly wrapped in his simple blankets on the shredded earth.

Minato picked up his son and held him for a few moments, savoring the feeling of holding his son.It was with great pride and no small amount of sadness that he thought about what he was about to do to his son. His son would be a hero. He would be blessed with power unlike any other before him, however it would come at a high cost. He wasn't as confident about how his son would be treated as he had portrayed to his wife or his sensei. He knew that fear could mar people's judgment, and it was possible that Naruto would have many struggles in his youth. He only hoped that his friends and sensei would care for him. There was so much that he would miss of his son's life and it saddened him. He would not get to be the father he had promised himself he would be. He only hoped that when he met his son within the seal several years from now, his son would forgive him.

Minato prepared himself mentally before focusing on the seal array he had placed on Gamabunta's head. He activated the handsign for the jutsu that was feared in every nation in the Ninja World and disappeared with a yellow flash of light.

Minato jumped from Gamabunta's head, Naruto held protectively in his arms. With a last glance at the Toad Boss summon, he silently thanked him for his help. Gamabunta gazed down at the human who had fought alongside his clan for several years. When Minato turned to face the Kyuubi who was recovering from being toppled over by Gamabunta's last water bullet attack, Gamabunta spoke to his summoner.

**"Minato, You have been a true friend and ally of the Toad Clan, I promise you that we will offer the same allegiance to your son, and will fight alongside him as we have for you." **

Without turning Minato thanked the giant toad, "Thank you Gamabunta, You have been a great friend and ally to me. Maybe someday we can share a drink again in the next world, my treat." He added amusedly before beginning the handsigns for the seal.

With a booming laugh Gamabunta leapt towards the Kyuubi, his sword drawn and poised to strike. He intended to provide Minato with as much time as possible, he would no longer evade the Kyuubi's attacks, Gamabunta was going all out.

**"Fuuin: Eight Trigram Divination Seal!" **Minato shouted as he focused his chakra into the Jutsu.

Almost immediately Minato sensed a power unlike anything he imagined possible appear behind him. It felt as if the air around him were as dense as lead. He felt as if gravity itself had multiplied in intensity by a hundred times.

Jiraiya-sensei had taught him to use seals that could manipulate gravity's pull on his body, but this pressure felt more intense that the time he had first tried it on his own and had wound up lying in the dirt for several hours before Jiraiya had finally found him. Minato stood frozen in place almost afraid to turn around and face what he knew was there.

The Fuuinjutsu he had created was a very powerful technique. It was also based on research he had discovered written by Tobirama Senju, who was famous for his incredible understanding of chakra and Fuuinjutsu. This particular bit of research involved the link to the afterlife. Of course in his research the 'afterlife' had many names. It referred to where souls went after death on this plane. It was called the 'Next Life', 'Other World', and various other names. It was the life after this one. Memories of his studies, flooded his mind as he stood in the presence of this enormous power. _'I thought it was all theory.. but this power...I feel smaller than an insect in comparison. Stay calm Minato, when you turn around you will come face to face with a shinigami. It is vital that I show no fear in front of this being if my seal is to work__.__ I must be able command this being of death.' _Preparing himself to face a hooded skeletal figure beyond all horror and power. Minato turned to face the Shinigami.

And his mind went completely blank.

Before him stood not a giant hooded skeletal god, but instead a petite black haired girl. She stood two heads shorter than Minato. She had shoulder length black hair that framed her young face perfectly. She wore a black hyori with white trim and one of her slender porcelain white hands rested on a long sheathed blade fastened to her hip. The girl before him could not have been any older than seventeen at the oldest, though she would be considered quite small for a girl of such an age. Almost immediately Minato knew that he was not mistaken, this was the shinigami he had summoned for the sealing. Her posture spoke of a royal upbringing and the experience of a warrior who had been in countless confrontations.

Most of all, it was the _power _that seemed to just explode from her relaxed stance. He noted the confusion in her purple eyes and the slight frown on her slender ethereal face.

"You! Answer me! Who are you? and where am I?" the shinigami girl demanded. Her voice was not that of a child, nor that of a godly being; it sounded like the typical voice of any teenage girl he might encounter in his village. He felt sure that she was raised a in a royalist lifestyle now, her voice told of a young girl who was used to being answered with respect. There was something else there though... something he couldn't place. Minato was so floored by this turn of events, he almost forgot to answer her questions. Quickly trying to regain his composure he replied,

"My name is Minato Namikaze, I am the Yondaime Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. and I have summoned you here to help me seal the rampaging Kyuubi no Kitsune into my son". He explained as he gestured to the baby he held in his right arm.

The young girl averted her eyes from the child's sleeping face to the battlefield behind the human who had apparently _summoned _her to this place. As soon as she heard his introduction, she knew where she was. She was in The Elemental Nations. This was the world of Ninja that existed beyond the mists of the mortal world. In front of her was a Bijuu, a being of immense chakra manifest into a corporeal beast. She was only vaguely familiar with the goings on of the mortal world but she had over heard her superiors discussing the Ninja and their Chakra many years ago.

"You are aware of the cost you will pay for summoning a shinigami to your world, mortal?" she questioned in a flat voice. She was not comfortable with what she knew she had to do next.

"Hai, shinigami-sama. I am aware that I will pay my soul in exchange for the sealing. I however have an offer to make you." Minato said in what he hoped was a politically strong voice.

This statement surprised the shinigami girl greatly. It wasn't often that a shinigami was sent to the World of the Living outside of mission parameters, let alone being _summoned _by a mortal.

To the best of her limited knowledge, the number of events similar to this could be counted on one hand, and in those times the mortals did not actually interact with the shinigami, merely made use of a small portion of their powers before being taken by said shinigami. To think that this human was actually trying to talk to her as if she were another human surprised her a great deal. He did not seem to be afraid of her, nor did he try to bind her to his will as the rumors of the events had assumed, he even seemed to respect her. Curious, she listened. "I'm listening, human."

Taking a deep breath, both out of relief and in preparation. He was surprised that the shinigami was willing to listen, he had expect her to merely sever his soul with that blade of hers rather than actually listen.

"Shinigami-sama, I request that you allow me to seal a portion of my soul and chakra into my son's seal along with the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra. This will allow me to create a failsafe within the seal that I can activate when the need arises. In exchange for your assistance in this, I offer you the Yin chakra of the Kyuubi along with my soul that was promised in the summoning."

The shinigami girl silently listened to his request. It was a simple request, and was a very generous offer. If she were to bring an evil power of that magnitude back to Soul Society, it would bring her a great deal of respect from the Captains. The yin chakra would be of great value to the 13 Court Guard Squads.

Still she hesitated a few moments before answering. She had already made her decision but decided she would make the man sweat a bit. It wasn't often that she was in a position of authority over someone and she was quite enjoying the way the man was trying not to crumble under her presence.

"I accept your offer, human." was all she said before she stepped past him towards the Kyuubi.

Suddenly, the Kyuubi became aware of a presence that was not there before. An incredibly powerful presence had just appeared a few yards from where it stood. The power it felt was far greater than even its own. The power was so vastly superior that Kyuubi turned away from the annoying toad who it had been fighting. When the Kyuubi turned to face the new presence, it was surprised to only see what appeared to be a young human girl.

Without any warning or handsigns the girl disappeared from the place she was standing and reappeared on the Kyuubi's nose between its eyes. Shocked by what had just happened the Kyuubi could only watch in detached horror as the small girl made a strange chant before reaching her arm straight through the Kyuubi's head and removing handful of silvery smoke. The Kyuubi watched as the girl leapt from its head down to where Minato was waiting with Naruto sleeping soundly atop an unrolled scroll.

_**'No! What are they doing! I will not be sealed again!' **_the Kyuubi roared inside its head.

Apparently, the two humans had heard it's thoughts, because the both glanced back to the paralyzed chakra construct.

"Yes you will. And this time, You will not be escaping." Minato said as he finished his preparations.

**Fuuin: Seal! **Minato intoned. He felt the shinigami's powerful energy flow through his body into the seal on Naruto's stomach. It was euphoric, the immense power made him feel like a god. Like he was invincible and was beyond even chakra's capabilities in power.

Then at once it stopped. It was gone. Not only the power of the shinigami, but his chakra too. Normally he could feel his chakra like a warmth coursing through his body, but no, there was nothing, he felt empty. His body felt extremely heavy, he ached in every part of his body. Scarres and injuries long forgotten seemed to reappear all at once. Minato glanced over his shoulder. He saw the shinigami girl, who was watching the Kyuubi in fascination.

The Kyuubi was slowly fading into a orange-red haze of chakra that was streaming into the seal he had placed on Naruto. As the chakra flooded the seal, the Kyuubi shrunk continuously until all that remained was a small sphere of red and black smoke.

The shinigami girl casually strode to the sphere and placed it into the pocket of her kimono.

"We are done here, human. Let's go." she said impatiently.

Minato nodded. He could see Hiruzen rapidly approaching the spot they stood. His features looked both relieved and worried. Looking down to Naruto he froze. Laying next to Naruto was...himself.

It was a strange feeling, seeing himself unconscious next to his son who was now awake and crying softly into his blankets. He knew what had happened.

He had died.

It was strange, he did not even notice it had happened. He wondered idly if that was how all people died, or if it was unique to sacrificing his soul to a shinigami.

He noticed the girl was now standing next to him. He noted how he could not feel her power pressing down on him anymore she seemed to be just like any normal teenage girl.

Silently she drew her blade from its sheath in a fluid elegant motion. Minato wondered if she was going to cleave his head off with it, or perhaps impale him through the heart. He decided it didn't matter. He had completed the sealing and had reinforced it with the power of the shinigami. Providing his son with this power and protection was worth the cost.

But the girl did not strike him down. She extended the blade out in the empty air in front of her. From the tip of the blade was a light that rippled outward in all directions like a pebble landing in a smooth pond. The light slowly expanded and changed shape until it became a large regal sliding door that opened for them expectantly.

"Come, Minato. We have much to discuss" the shinigami girl said as she waited for him to enter first.

Minato noted how she had called him 'Minato' and not 'human' or 'mortal'. He then realized she had said 'discuss'. What was going on? What was there to 'discuss'? These and many other questions flooded his mind as he glanced once more at Naruto, who was now being cradled protectively by Hiruzen. Minato assumed they could not see him, and wondered if he or any of the shinobi had seen the sealing of the Kyuubi or the young girl who had sealed the beast.

"No Minato, He cannot see us. All he and the other humans saw was the light from your seal activating and you collapsing next to your child. Now, Come. We have to leave, now" the girl insisted.

Not wanting to argue with this girl who had been kind enough to grant his request, and slightly out of fear, Minato stepped through the door into Soul Society.

The shinigami girl glanced back to the old man who was holding the newborn child, she got the feeling that something important had just happened. and she was now involved. Sighing slightly, she watched the old man disappear in a swirl of leaves before she followed Minato into Soul Society.

**A/N: So there you have it. Chapter one. I would like to take a moment to say a few things.**

**First of all, Thanks for reading! This chapter was quite long( a little over 11,000 words). I feel I should say now, that this story will be novel length and I hope you will stick around for the long haul. As I have, said before, This is my first story and I will be learning as I go. You very well might see changes in my style throughout the story.**

**Second, This crossover blend with bleach (and that one mild reference to DBZ) was COMPLETELY unplanned. It sort of just...happened. But I really enjoyed how it turned out and now I have allot of new ideas that I hope will make this story unique. This Story this story will be Naruto-Centric, but will also follow Minato's life in Soul Society. I'm not sure how much at this point but I'm sure it will probably be enough to be considered a crossover of sorts (opinions?). I'm going to sort of decide based on how reviewers respond to it. I have the plot already planned out but its open to revision. **

**I am also writing a Harry Potter story, which I am posting soon. So if you are interested drop by my profile to check it out.**

**Thanks for reading! **

**~ZerOrange~**


	2. Beginnings

**Mists: Chapter Two – Beginnings**

**Hiruzen stood in his office gazing through his large window at the village he had devoted his entire life to. Today was October 9****th****, and the sandaime's mood was considerably darker than it usually was these last few years. After the death of his successor, he returned to his position as hokage. It had not been an easy job when he had first become hokage, but now things were considerably different.**

**Since he had been reinstated as hokage, there had been several problems from both within Konoha and from without. The peace that had settled over the village after his successor had taken up the position of hokage was now a thing of the past. Treaties that Minato had all but sealed with Sunagakure and Kumogakue were abandoned just months after Minato's passing. Skirmishes were frequent between all of the ninja villages, just as they always had been. Hiruzen feared another Great Ninja War was approaching in the near future. He knew how friction between nations could build hatred over time, and it was only a matter of time before one of the villages went too far and the flames of war would ignite once more.**

**However, foreign threats were a constant for the a kage, what troubled him deeply was the turmoil within his village. Though Konoha had regained much of its strength after the attack nearly a decade ago, the village was weaker than it had ever been. The military strength they once possessed was just under what they had before Minato's death, but this wasn't the main problem. Two events had occurred that had severely damaged the morale, and reputation of his shinobi. **

**The first event had caused the complete disruption of all communications with Kumo. During alliance talks with Kumo, one of their top Jonin had attempted to kidnap the heiress of the Hyuuga Clan. It was common knowledge that Kumo and the current Raikage had an obsession with kekkei genkai, the abilities born to a family by blood that were infinitely valuable to a ninja and their village. Kumo had been secretly stealing the bloodlines of the four other Great Nations for as long as anyone could remember. Wars had been fought over such crimes and countless had died in the attempts to bring such abilities back to their village. **

**Konoha was famous for the diverse and powerful bloodlines it possessed, and contrary to the other hidden villages, treated their clans with honor and respect.**

**One of the most powerful, and famous clans were the Hyuuga. The family possessed an rare type of bloodline that granted them an ocular ability deemed the Byakugan – the all seeing eye. Kumo lusted after the power of the Byakugan and had attempted to steal it from Konoha. In the past, that meant they would kidnap a female member of the family and forced her produce bloodline bearing children for the village for the rest of her life. Such an act would normally cause a war between the two nations, but after a vicious political battle, they had settled the fight with minimal bloodshed. Unfortunately the Hyuuga Clan had withdrawn into itself for a time. Nearly two years had passed and only now had the Clan begun to return to normality.**

**The second event was considerably more painful for Hiruzen to think about. Only six months prior, the clan who possessed their other ocular bloodline – the Sharingan, had been completely decimated. **

**Hiruzen, growing increasingly more solemn returned to his desk and withdrew a file from a locked drawer. **

**The file was the profile for Sasuke Uchiha, the lone survivor from the incident.**

**As Hiruzen flipped through the documents that contained reports from his psychiatric experts from the Yamanaka Clan, he thought back to the day he had slaughtered the Uchiha Clan and by default was responsible the this boy's troubles.**

_**Flashback**_

_**Hiruzen sat in a secret chamber beneath the Hokage Tower. The chamber was very small only a ornate square table with a chair on each side for furnishings. The plain white walls and cream colored carpeting gave the room a comfortable feel. **_

_**Hiruzen was not wearing his Kage robes but instead wore very plain clothing, a black tee with orange swirl on the sleeve and dark blue shinobi pants. Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe, enjoying the rather expensive Tobacco he had brought in the hopes it would help him feel less horrible about was he was sure had to happen this night.**_

_**Without a sound the door to the chamber opened and a figure shrouded in a black cloak with the hood pulled up stepped in. The figure approached the table and knelt before the elderly shinobi.**_

_**Hiruzen sighed before speaking to the figure. "None of that Itachi-kun, as of this moment you and I will speak as equals. Tonight may be the last time we speak- let us be ourselves, not the titles we bear."**_

_**The figure stiffened in shock, then relaxed. Itachi removed his cloak and hung it over his chair before slumping into his set and leaning forward and gazing at Hiruzen.**_

"_**Sandai- …Jiji, I have gathered the information you need. The Uchiha Clan has plans to overthrow you. Fugaku has completed his preparations and will make his move tomorrow night. He has tasked me with your assassination and the capture of Naruto-kun. I do not know what has caused him to become this way.. but he will not change his course." Itachi reported solemnly.**_

_**With another deep pull on his pipe Hiruzen resolved to what needed to happen. This was not something he liked to do, but in order to ensure the protection of the village he loved and the boy he considered his grandson he would have to do what he must. "And you are certain that you wish to be the one to end the threat, Itachi? You wish to kill your own family?"**_

"_Jiji, my family has been consumed by a thirst for power that is unquenchable. Every man, woman, and child has become an instrument of this villages destruction. If my family succeeds in overthrowing you, it would mean the deaths of far more than just my family, but countless innocents as well. It is better that I do this, I know the inner workings of the compound and have access to the Uchiha's Secret Chamber. I can complete the mission and seal off the Clan's secrets before this night is done." Itachi said in a voice that was beginning to lose its emotion._

_Hiruzen had no doubt that Itachi could accomplish this task, but there were still pieces on the board that needed to be accounted for._

"_Have you met with Danzo, Itachi?" Hiruzen questioned._

"_Yes, just before I came here. He had me followed but thanks to a rather powerful genjutsu they believe they are watching me return home" Itachi allowed a slight smirk at this before continuing in the slightly emotionless voice. "He has ordered me to slaughter my clan, and then to defect as a missing-nin."_

_It infuriated Hiruzen that there were so many entities playing for power in his village. Not just Fugaku, but his own teammate had clearly not disbanded ROOT, the Secret ANBU corps that followed only Danzo._

_Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe before setting it aside and speaking. "Itachi, I, the Sandaime Hokage am assigning you a permanent S-ranked mission". Itachi straightened and gave Hiruzen his undivided attention. "You will eradicate the Uchiha Clan under guise of Danzo's orders. You will become a missing-nin under my orders. After you leave the village I want you to go into hiding. After I handle the fallout, which may take several weeks, I will find you to discuss your mission parameters in detail". Hiruzen paused to allow his special tobacco to relax him a bit._

"_I want you to investigate an organization formed of missing-nin from every corner of the Elemental Nations". He handed Itachi a scroll as he spoke. "I expect you to gather as much information as possible before our meeting. Word of your clan's destruction and your defection will spread wide and far in a very short amount of time, It is likely they will approach you soon enough. That will be your opportunity to infiltrate."_

_Itachi was not very surprised by his mission, it was something he and Hiruzen had dicussed in their previous meetings in the last few months. What surprised him however was this organization._

"_Jiji, I have a request" Itachi muttered. Hiruzen noted a bit of the boys emotion seemed to have returned as Itachi gazed at him with hope._

"_I wish to spare my younger brother.. I care for him more than anyone in this world. I will spare him, I will give him a reason to become strong. So strong that he will surpass me and seek me out to avenge our family. In doing this, I will ensure he will be able to survive in this world.. In order for him to survive, he will need an ambition to become as powerful as possible."_

_Itachi sighed deeply before finally making his point. "My younger brother is very soft-hearted Jiji, I am afraid what I am about to do to him will twist him, or even break him completely. Please…watch over him, help him become a ninja worthy of our sacrifice, a man who can revive the Uchiha in light instead of darkness"._

_Hiruzen, responded immediately. "Yes Itachi, I promise you I will do all I can for the boy"._

_End Flashback_

The Sandaime attempted to shake off the brooding nature he noticed was beginning to overwhelm him. As he looked through Sasuke's file, he analyzed the vast improvement in the child's performance in the Academy. Sasuke was a good shinobi to begin with, as were most children born into ninja clans, but Sasuke had a noticeable increase in his performance in every field since the Uchiha Massacre.

As he reminisced the event, and the fallout from that day he remembered the reason that had caused his mood to darken to begin with. He swapped the file with another from the drawer.

The file was that of one Naruto Uzumaki.

An eight year old Naruto Uzumaki was on his way to his favorite place in the world, Ichiraku Ramen. Tuechi Ichiraku the ramen chef and his now 11 year old daughter Ayame had been close to him for as long as he could remember. They were two of the most important people in his life and were on the very short list of people who actually cared about him.

For as long as he could remember he had always been treated badly by almost everyone in the village. Besides the Sandaime and a few of the the higher ranked shinobi of the village, Teuchi and Ayame were all he had in the world.

He was on his way to their ramen stand for a special all-you-can-eat lunch with Ayame and Tuechi to celebrate his birthday.

As he walked up the street he had a huge grin on his face, but inside he was frowning slightly at what he had to do tonight, and why he was forced to celebrate his birthday a day early.

His thoughts drifted through the last two years of his young life. Ever since he had been thrown out of the orphanage he had lived alone in his rundown apartment, living off the allowance the Sandaime gave him monthly. Thinking back, he acknowledge that he had a pretty sweet deal. He lived rent-free in an abandoned shinobi apartment complex that he _owned _since the hokage had given him the deed that very day. Naruto was over-joked that he had a home of his own and thanked the Sandaime over and over. It was that day he decided that the Sandaime Hokage was important to him and became his grandfather figure in his life.

He met with the Sandaime nearly every day since. He had taken it upon himself to teach naruto the things was being denied over the years such as how to read and write. It was also the Sandaime who taught him about the world, Ninja, and the way things worked in juncture with civilian lifestyle. Once he learned about the Kage, Naruto had made up his mind.

Naruto Uzumaki would become a Ninja, the BEST ninja, the Hokage.

It wasn't long before he he'd finally turned eight and entered the academy to begin his ninja training. He had been excited at first but when he learned that he would not learn any practical skills until he was ten. He had begun to lose interest and had quickly begun to gain a reputation as a slacker and a prankster.

Naruto had spent most of the day practicing his kunai and shuriken accuracy taking it easy on his training since he did not want to be messy for his party.

He strolled up to Ichiraku Ramen with a large grin on his face. Ignoring the large 'closed' sign, he pulled a key from his pocket and opened the sliding door enough for him to slip in and lock behind him.

The young blonde had barely taken three steps into the ramen bar before he was tackled to the ground by an auburn blur.

Naruto looked up into Ayame's coy smirk. "You know Naruto-kun, for a ninja who wants to be hokage, your were taken down pretty easily! And by a little _civilian _girl too!". Ayame said teasingly.

Naruto blinked before responding in an accusing tone, "That's not fair! Your older and taller than me! Besides, I only been in the academy for like..eight months!".

"Is that what you are going to tell your enemies when you are a ninja?" Tuechi laughed from the bar. "Ayame, get off Naruto so we can eat!".

Ayame got off Naruto quickly for grabbing his hand and pushing him into a seat the bar.

"So what are we starting with Naruto?" Tuechi asked with a smile.

"Two chicken ramen!" He said excitedly.

"ill have a Veggie, daddy" Ayame requested.

"Just one?" Naruto asked her with a little surprise.

"Not everyone can eat ten bowls of ramen in one sitting", Ayame responded flatly. "Besides, I've got to keep my figure."

Naruto laughed before turning to Tuechi. "You know…you didn't have to close up shop just for me". This had been a customary exchange on his birthday. Naruto felt guilty that Tuechi lost business on his birthday birthday due to the villagers dislike for him. So Every October, Tuechi would close up shop on both his birthday and the day before to celebrate with Naruto, for Naruto would be leaving the village tonight, and would not return until after his birthday was over. Tuechi was aware of this, and would ensured that Naruto had a decent birthday before he left. Each time Naruto's guilt surfaced Tuechi would merely smile and wave off his concerns before serving up another bowl.

As expected, Tuechi dismissed his concern for his business and placed two nearly overflowing bowls in front of him and Ayame. "So, how was your training today?"

Naruto thanked him and said a quick prayer before taking a large bite of his meal. Mouth full, he replied nonchalantly. "It was great! I can finally hit all my targets! Even the ones behind the trees and rocks!"

"wow, that's really cool You've been working on that for a long time" Ayame praised.

Tuechi nodded approvingly. " That is very impressive Naruto, what will you work on next?"

Naruto finished off his bowl before replying, "I think I'll work on my stealth skills, that way I can get a few pranks in while I train!" Naruto added excitedly.

Tuechi palmed his face while Ayame started giggling at Naruto's antics. The remainder of the meal was very enjoyable for Naruto. Ever since Tuechi had begun this tradition, Naruto had learned to love the day before his birthdays more than anything, because he was able to spend time with people he truly loved.

After polishing off his twelfth bowl, Tuechi invited him into his home above the restraint, and the three sat in a modest living room, Tuechi on his favorite recliner, and Ayame on the sofa with Naruto's head in her lap. This had become customary as well. Naruto would eat too much, and would lay groaning on the sofa with Ayame snickering at his discomfort.

Tuechi discretely observed his daughter and Naruto on the couch. He was well aware of Naruto's condition, and his situation with most of the villagers. He wished he could do more for the boy, but anyone who was seen caring for the boy had been condemned by the rest of the village. If people knew how much he cared for the boy, and how well he treated him, he could lose his business and could potentially bring harm to his daughter. However, he vowed to do everything he could for the young boy, it was not his fault that the was the Kyuubi's container, he was a young boy with a pure heart, who only craved love- love that he truly deserved to have.

Tuechi interrupted the end of the dramatic telling of one of Naruto's recent pranks on a clothing store owner with a question. "So, Naruto, What do you have planned for tomorrow?"

Naruto finished his story with a few odd gestures that Ayame apparently understood because she rolled off the side of the couch giggling hysterically. Naruto being forced to sit up at this point, looked at Tuechi. His formerly wide grin now looked a bit forced. "I'm going to go camping."

Ayame stopped giggling at sat up on the floor, "That's so not fair! Your too little to go camping on your own!" Ayame said with a slight pout.

Tuechi noticed Naruto slightly nervous look before he played it off, rather smoothly too. "Nah Ayame-chan, I've fallen asleep at the training grounds tons of times! So I know I can sleep outside just fine. Besides I think the future Hokage can handle camping out for a day and a half."

Ayame looked like she was going to say something more, but Tuechi interrupted quickly. "Well that's perfect! Because you'll have the time and space to make use of the present I got you!".

Naruto's face lit up at the mention of presents. "REALLY!? Can I open it now!" he asked excitedly.

Tuechi grinned before walking into his room off of the living room and returning with a rectangular box.

Naruto wasted no time in tearing the lid off the box before gasping in shock. "No way!"

Tuechi laughed at the boys expression. "I won it in a card game with a couple of my old friends. Have you heard of the Ino-Shika-Cho Team?".

Naruto nodded slightly as he examined the ninja scroll in his hands.

"Well," Tuechi continued. "They are some very close friends of mine. This scroll was something Inoichi picked up several years ago on a mission. It contains all you need to learn a ninja style that was used in the Land of Wind, where Sunagakure no Sato now stands."

"No way… This is… is… THE GREATEST PRESENT EVER!" Naruto yelled before rushing over to Tuechi and hugging him tightly.

But then Naruto stepping back and stared at Tuechi with a little seriousness. "Are you sure you want to give me this old man? Iruka-sensei says that ninja scrolls are extremely valuable, and ones that contain a complete style are even more valuable! This one is really old too! This is probably worth a lot of money!"

Tuechi kneeled down to Naruto's eye level. "I am well aware of what this scroll is worth. I could likely sell it to the Hokage and live comfortably for the next ten years. However, you", Tuechi poked him in the chest for emphasis. "Are much more precious to me than any amount of money, and besides, this scroll could possibly help you become Hokage, then you make Ichiraku Ramen famous!" Tuechi added with a laugh.

"You got it! I promise ill make you proud Tuechi-jiji!" Naruto pledged.

"My present now Naruto!" Ayame said excitedly.

Ayame pushed a crudely wrapped bag in his hands with a large smile on her face. Naruto accepted it with a smile of his own and opened it reverently. He withdrew from the bag a necklace with a dogtag bearing a familiar orange swirl attached.

Upon further inspection, Naruto noticed the necklace was made of ninja wire that had been rather creatively woven together. The swirl was made of the same material as his kunai and shuriken.

Naruto couldn't speak for a few long moments before he hugged Ayame tightly.

This was the best birthday he had ever had.

It was nearly midnight, and Naruto had just slipped through the wall near the east gate. Easily avoiding detection of the chuunin guards, he made his way into the forest. It wasn't long before Naruto had found an acceptable clearing to camp in. There was a stream, and plenty of open space surrounded by thick trees. Naruto set his tent and drifted into a comfortable sleep.

Naruto woke early the next morning his excitement for learning from his new scroll had seeped into his subconscious and was wide awake at first light. After setting a fire and catching a half dozen fish from the stream for his breakfast, he sat cross-legged in front of the fire as he read the scroll.

As soon as he unfurled it, he knew it was very old, Ninja scrolls were made to last through wearing and aging, but this one had obviously been exposed to the elements for a long time.

Written in a clean, elegant scrawl was:

_Kaze Kiri no Shunpo (Wind Cutting Flash Movement)_

"Whoa", Naruto whispered aloud to himself. As he read through the details of the style, he felt both excited and concerned. This was an extremely advanced style, likely only reserved for high ranking shinobi who could handle the physical strain of the techniques used. He realized with a little sadness that it would be a long time before he could really make use of the style, but he could at least work on the basic katas now, and work his way up.

Shaking of his disappointment, Naruto jumped to his feet and got to work. By the afternoon, he realized something didn't seem right about his new style. It was very hard for him to flow through the movements. After reviewing his scroll further, he realized he had been going about it the wrong way, he had been so focused on putting everything he had into each movement that he was making the style choppy. The Kaze Kiri no Shunpo was a style that called for high speed, swift accurate strikes, and a balanced fluid movement. He also found that the style was designed to be used in combination with the Wind Style, and most of the power behind this style would rely solely on the physical strength of the user.

This new information seemed a bit odd to Naruto. Iruka-sensei had taught their class that a shinobi's taijutsu style provided them added strength to their hand-to-hand combat, which is what separated them from civilian brawlers. His style however, was not amplifying his strikes, he would need to be physically strong on his own, and train his body to be able to move at the speeds required.

_'I need to train harder, at my current level I can't make this style work'_

Just as his frustration was mounting, his musings were interrupted by a green blur crashing through the clearing. Naruto was only just barely able to distinguish that the blur was a shinobi, however the figure had streaked into the tree line not even noticing Naruto or his little camp.

_'That guy was fast! I wonder what he was-' _Naruto's thought was again cut short when the shinobi appeared right in his face with a huge shiny grin on his face.

"AHH!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs falling hard on his backside and wincing before staring up at the speedy shinobi. The man was certainly strange looking for a shinobi. He was dressed in a dark green spandex workout suit and had black hair cut in a bowl. The only way Naruto could tell he was a shinobi was his green jounin flak jacket, and the Konoha headband fastened like a belt around his waist with a black cloth. The man was very tall, and it was obvious that he was a taijutsu-type shinobi by the sheer magnitude of his build. He was a very imposing figure to the young ninja, but what stood out to Naruto was the thick bushy eyebrows that were risen in surprise at Naruto.

"My apologies!", Naruto was a little startled by the man's loud exuberant voice. "are you alright? I am very sorry for interrupting your-". The man hesitated in his loud apology when he had finally examined the small camp. Noticing the ninja scroll a short distance away from the fallen blond, he analyzed the young want to-be ninja before him for a few long moments.

Naruto felt uncomfortable with the way the man suddenly seemed to be staring through him, he had caught the man glancing at his scroll and was slightly afraid he may try to take it from him. Most people from the village would jump at the chance to steal what little Naruto had. However this man seemed different, Naruto decided to give this guy a chance.

"Um, That's okay. You didn't interrupt me, I was just trying to learn this new style." Naruto said as he rose to his feet and dusted himself off, glancing at the man who seemed to be deep in thought, he asked, "Who are you anyways?"

The green clad shinobi seemed to have come to some sort of decision. He exclaimed. "I AM MIGHT GAI! THE GREEN BEAST OF KONOHA! THE GREATEST TAIJUTSU MASTER IN THE FIVE GREAT NATIONS!". Calming down slightly, he continued, "Aren't you a little young to be learning a taijutsu style? You couldn't be more than a first year in the academy."

Naruto was immediately impressed by Gai's introduction, and decided he would answer the man honestly. "Yes, but most of my classmates are from the most famous shinobi clans in Konoha, they all have all started learning the signature styles of their clans already. I'm...I'm an orphan, So if I am going to be able to keep up, I need to have a style too. I was given this scroll as a gift for my birthday".

"You are Naruto Uzumaki, correct" It wasn't really a question.

Naruto began to panic slightly, this guy knew who he was! What would he do to him? but before Naruto could properly react to this information, the man spoke.

"Don't look so frightened. Fear not! I do not have any ill will towards you. This is not the first time I have seen you training. In fact, I have seen you at the training grounds several times, you work very hard." Gai praised him with a earnest smile. "Tell me Naruto, Why do you train so hard? Why do you wish to become a ninja?"

Naruto was surprised by the question, but answered quickly. "I am going to be the greatest Hokage who has ever lived!"

Gai hid his surprise at the young blonde's proclamation. Guy had seen something in Naruto's eyes that he had not expected to see. He saw what could only be the Will of Fire. He had met a similar boy not much older than Naruto two weeks prior. He too was a young ninja, still in the academy who showed great potential despite his upbringing. Guy had decided he would take that young ninja as an apprentice, and now he wondered if he could do the same for Naruto.

"Hokage? That's quite the goal. You know the Hokage need to be very powerful shinobi, are you prepared to push your body beyond its limits, persevere through unknowable pain, and learn everything you can to become one of the most powerful ninja in the Five Great Nations?".

"YES!" Naruto exclaimed with absolute determination. "I will do whatever it takes to achieve my dream."

Gai stared at the boy for a few moments, sizing him up. _'The will of fire is strong in him. He does not have any idea of what it is to be Hokage, but he is still young, with the right molding, he just may have the drive to do it.'_

Guy made up his mind. "Naruto, would you like to learn from me? I can help you achieve your dream. I will help you become strong enough to become Hokage", glancing at the scroll still sprawled on the ground he added, "and I will help you master your style."

Naruto was shocked, he had no idea how to respond. No one had hardly believed him when he said he would become Hokage. Most shinobi would scoff or insult him for making such claims. Gai however, not only believed he could do it, but was offering to help train him!

"Yes Gai-sensei! I promise I will not let you down!"

Guy grinned widely at the young ninja. "Well Naruto, I hope you are ready to work hard, because you will be receiving training unlike you have ever experienced before!" he accentuated this with a pose and a thumbs up.

With a bright smile, Naruto returned the gesture. "I'm ready!"

Naruto had no idea what he was getting into.

**A/N: ****Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I expected to put it up way earlier. But the good news is I have chapter 3 done, which I will be spitting out as soon as a check for errors.**

**This chapter isn't very exciting. But I mainly wanted to introduce Naruto to Gai, and show a bit of Naruto's childhood a little bit. This chapter was much longer, but I decided to split it into two chapters. Chapter 3 will have atleast a bit more action in it. I know it's moving kind of slow, but chapter 3 marks the end of the 'build-up arc'. Chapter 4 will be when things really start to heat up.**

**For those of you who are interested in the Minato/bleach side to this story. I am still hoping for more feedback on this part of the story, but I think I am going to continue that portion as a seperate story that still follows this one (did that make sense?). Anyway, I'd appreciate any thoughts you have on this.**

**R&R or PM if you have suggestions/thoughts. Thanks!**


	3. The Journey Begins

_**Chapter 3: The Journey Begins**_

"GET HIM! DONT LET HIM GET AWAY!"

Naruto laughed as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. He was fleeing the scene of his latest prank, and he was currently being pursued by four chuunin of the Konoha police force.

_'im really going to miss this' _Naruto thought to himself as he flipped off of the roof and slipped into a side alley. After ensuring that he had evaded his pursuers he walked casually into the busy streets and made his way towards training ground nine. It was still early, so he decided he would take his time walking through the village. Naruto glanced down at his clothes, making sure he did not get any paint on them. He was wearing dark blue shinobi pants with a thick orange stripe down each leg, and a rusty orange jacket over a black muscle tee, and mesh armor. His signature goggles fixed atop is head and weapons holster strapped to his left leg made completed his 'ninja look'.

Today was the day he would become an official genin of the Hidden Leaf, so he had decided to abandon his old orange jumpsuit in an attempt to look more professional. However he could not completely abandon his favorite color, he felt orange was just right for him.

As he walked downtown he thought back to how far he had come to reach this point.

It had been four years since he had met Gai-sensei, and just like he had promised Naruto that day, he had trained Naruto unlike he had ever believed possible. Alongside Gai's apprentice Rock Lee, he had been trained to be 'A Genius of Hard Work!'. It was a concept that Gai-sensei explained would help them overcome adversaries that were born to clans. In the Ninja World it was commonly believed that the most powerful ninja were those born to clans and bloodline powers. Gai however, believed that most ninja that had such abilities relied so heavily on them that they did not reach their potential. That is why he taught Naruto and Lee to push themselves to their limits and beyond.

It was this rigorous training that brought Lee and Naruto closer. They had a bond that only they could understand, a kinship that helped them get through the roughest times during their training.

Rock Lee was a year older than Naruto and was already a genin, although he had been born with abnormally small chakra reserves, he had still trained hard to become a taijutsu master just like his idol and sensei. Although Naruto and Lee had trained side by side for years, Naruto knew that in a straight taijutsu fight, Lee would certainly win. After Lee had joined Team 9, along with a girl named TenTen Higurashi and a boy named Neji Hyuuga. Even though Naruto was not a part of their team, he still joined them for their training and D-rank missions. It wasn't conventional for anyone outside of a squad to work with the team on missions, but Naruto was anything but conventional.

Naruto really enjoyed being with team 9. He respected Gai-sensei and owed him a great deal for his teachings. Lee had become a good friend and rival, TenTen was by far the best girl friend he had that was a ninja, she had shown him the finer points of Kenjutsu, and Neji...well..

Neji was a prick.

Naruto and Neji were often butting heads. Neji was renowned as 'The Genius of the Hyuuga'. Although he had been born to the Branch Family of the Hyuuga Clan, he had been gifted with the most developed Byakugan in 3 generations. Naruto knew full well that Neji had a grudge against his family, he hated that he was forced to be subservient to his once loved cousins. Neji had adopted a philosophy of a dark, all powerful fate that controlled the lives of men and would put down Naruto and Lee for their belief that with enough hard work they could surpass those gifted from birth. It was this underlying argument that caused most of their arguments, they were not truly hostile towards each other, they were practically teammates, but they definitely had an aggressive rivalry.

He would be getting his own team today, and he would really miss them all, even Neji.

As he entered the plain training ground used by team 9, he reached into his pouch withdrew a kunai and whipped it across in front of him, deflecting the two shuriken that would have blasted into him.

"Aw! Come on Tenten! Do you have to ambush me today? It's my last day with you guys!" He quickly rolled out of the way as an overwhelming number of shuriken came from behind him.

Just as he rose to his feet with his kunai still in hand, he had to raise it to block a strike from the taller girl's katana.

"You know you enjoy this as much as I do _Naruto-kun_" Tenten said with a seductive voice. Naruto blinked in surprise, not expecting the seductive tone. The moment was exactly what Tenten was hoping for because she swept Naruto's legs out from under him and leveled her blade in front of the teen's face as he lay sprawled on the ground.

"Hehehe! I finally got you! YES! It took a whole year but I finally brought you down! See, Neji? I told you I would get him today!" Tenten bragged excitedly as she sealed her katana away.

Neji walked over to Naruto and smirked condescendingly at him. "If you don't get a handle on that, won't make it through one real mission as a genin.._Naruto-kun" _he mocked.

"That was so not fair! You can't just mess with a guy like that! It's..it's..." Naruto complained.

"Hey! A kunoichi must make use of all her assets." Tenten teased.

"Yeah, well, you won't get me again like that." Naruto said determined.

It was then that Lee came running into the clearing, clad in the same spandex workout suit that was Gai-sensei's signature. He noticed Naruto and stopped dead.

"Oh no" Naruto groaned.

"NARUTO! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A BATTLE OF RIVALS! WE SHALL DECIDE WHICH OF US IS STRONGEST BEFORE YOU JOIN YOUR NEW TEAM!" Lee declared as he got into his Goken stance. Neji and Tenten immediately stopped laughing and backed away from Naruto.

Naruto thought for a moment. "You know what? You're on Lee, let's settle this now, but our weights stay on, agreed? Only taijutsu." Naruto got into an identical Goken stance.

"Agreed!". With that, Lee rushed at him at a high speed. But Naruto was ready for him a quick kick to lee's chin sent him into the air. Naruto appearing over him in a burst of speed prepared for an axe kick but Lee had caught his leg and flung him into the dirt. Naruto rolled easily out of the throw and charged Lee.

The taijutsu battled continued for nearly forty minutes before Gai interrupted them.

"That's enough you two. Naruto, you need to be at the academy by noon. Before you go I have one last lesson for you." He said this with his signature 'nice guy' pose.

The four teens gathered around Gai all taking seats on the ground and giving him their undivided attention.

"You have learned much over the years Naruto, and I am proud of how far you have come." At this Naruto grinned sheepishly, a little embarrassed.

"I have given you the tools you need to continue your training, as long as you remember the lessons I have taught you, you become a truly powerful shinobi. Remember, _Those _techniques are only to be used only under those specific conditions, do you understand?" Naruto nodded seriously, he knew that some of the techniques he had learned from Gai were dangerous, some even acted as a doubled edge to the user; he would be careful using them.

Tenten and Neji both had a slight frown, They had known that Naruto and Lee had been training for years with Gai-sensei, but didn't have any idea what kind of techniques he was referring to.

"Remember to continue the regiment I have given you and add it to what your new sensei will teach you. Your Goken is strong, use it. Save your other style as a trump card. It could make the difference when fighting an opponent beyond your capabilities."

Again, Tenten and Neji were surprised by this information. '_How much of their strength are those two hiding?'_ They both thought.

Neji was glaring suspiciously at Naruto, He prided himself on being able to read people, it was a gift granted through use of the Byakugan, he did not like to think that Naruto nor Lee were able to hide any significant power from him.

"In addition to your new sensei's instruction, and maintaining your training regiment, I have asked a close friend of mine to begin instructing you in the use of your wind affinity."

This shocked all four of the young shinobi.

"You will meet him and his genin team at training ground 10 tomorrow afternoon, there he will decide what to do with you.".Gai concluded with a grin.

"You are welcome to join us whenever you please, but do not skip out on your training. Now GO!". Gai exclaimed as he turned his back on Naruto, his eye's tearing up almost comically.

Naruto rose to his feet and bowed deeply. "Thank you for all you have taught me Gai-sensei, I promise I will not let you down! and I'll see you guys around, later!". With those parting words and a salute to team 9 he took off towards the academy.

Naruto barged into the academy twenty minutes late for class. Iruka looked both relieved and frustrated at his appearance. He did not like it when Naruto interrupted his lectures.

"Naruto! Your late! Do you realize that you missed the taijutsu exam? That means you FAIL that exam!" Iruka ranted.

Naruto paled at this information, but then covered his concern with a foxy grin. "Don't worry Iruka-sensei, I will more than make up those points on the other tests, Believe it!"

At this most of the class began to snicker. "What?!" Naruto said indignantly.

It was Ino who spoke first as she brushed the blond strands of long hair out of her eyes. "Puh-Lease! I would have been surprised if you could pass at all! You're the dead last in class!" She pointed at the class ranking board for emphasis.

"Yeah, No offense Naruto, but I think the Taijutsu test was the only one you had any chance of passing" It was Shikamaru who spoke this time.

Naruto's smile faltered slightly. They were mostly right of course, he was the deadlast of their year, and Gai-sensei had forbidden him from revealing his abilities while in the academy, Gai could not afford for people to find out that he had been training Naruto all these years. Naruto understood this and never revealed his taijutsu training to any of his classmates, no matter how much he wanted to.

Outside of that, Naruto had not exactly been a scholar. Often sleeping through lectures or skipping class entirely, he had easily made a firm place for himself as the deadlast of the class.

"Just you watch, I'll pass this test no prob! Right Hinata?" Naruto looked over to the shy girl foxy grin back at full force. He knew he could always rely on Hinata for an affirmative at some level. and he was not disappointed.

She eeped in surprise, as a light blush spread across her pale cheeks and nodded, not able to look directly at him.

"That's enough Naruto get to your seat."

It was late, having failed his graduation exam several hours prior, Naruto now found himself on a 'secret graduation test'. Mizuki, the assistant of Iruka-sensei, had sent him on a mock-up mission to steal a scroll from the Hokage Library. It had been easy enough to steal, stealth was his specialty after all. A skill he had rigorously developed over these last four years.

Naruto shook his head of the encroaching memories. He did not like to think about the darker aspects that had become vital to his survival over the last years. He would be a ninja, and he would not need to live that lifestyle any longer...

Naruto came to a stop in a clearing just outside one of the larger training grounds. This was the place Mizuki had told him to rendezvous at.

_'I better get to work on learning one of these jutsu' _He thought to himself. Opening the massive scroll, he examined the first three techniques listed.

_'These jutsu are incredible! I don't think I can learn any of these in time to pass the test..Hm.'_

Naruto seemed to drift into his own thoughts for a long time before he made a decision. Standing, he reached into his backpack and withdrew a scroll. After unfurling it he proceeded to copy down as many jutsu as he could, being careful to write the exact instructions for each. After nearly an hour of copying, he decided he should get to work on one of the jutsu.

_'This thing is a goldmine for powerful techniques..I can't let this opportunity pass' _Deciding on just taking the first jutsu on the list, he started his training.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk his hands clasped in front of his lower face as he gazed at a very battered Naruto. He had witnessed the entire evenings events through his viewing globe. It had been difficult to watch, but this lesson was good for Naruto, he needed to get an idea of what how dangerous ninja life was, not only that... but Hiruzen believed it was truly time for Naruto learn of the Kyuubi.

Naruto's reaction to Mizuki's taunts and revelations were to be expected, however extreme they were. Hiruzen had spent several hours this night with Naruto, explaining to him his status as a Jinchuuriki of the Nine-tailed Fox. It was exhausting for him and Naruto both, but it was necessary for him to understand his place in the world, and to know why his life had been so difficult all these years.

"Jiji...I know you said I'm not the demon...but is it possible that he could be influencing me?" Naruto said this with a bit of worry and uncertainty. "I mean.. I killed Mizuki-sensei! I killed him! and it was so easy, I didn't even hesitate, once I had gotten angry, I just couldn't stop.."

"I am positive that the Kyuubi is not influencing you Naruto, however you did draw on a very small amount of its power, that little bit was enough for your strikes to become lethal." At this he paused to think what he should say next. "We are shinobi Naruto-kun, it is our job to fight and sometimes kill others. When an enemy threatens those you care for, you should always fight to protect them, and if necessary, kill to protect them. As for Mizuki, He was a traitor to this village. A traitor who was working for the most wanted missing-nin from this village. It would have been beneficial to have him alive to interrogate, but his fate would have been the same regardless. He deserved what he got."

Naruto flinched at the last part of the Sandaime's speech. It still did not sit with him well that he had actually killed someone. but he accepted the words with a nod.

"As for the Kyuubi's powers, I think it would be wise for you to learn to control the power that could leak from your seal. You must learn to control that power, or it could cause harm to your friends and comrades. Do not fear the power, Naruto-kun, seize it as your own."

The words hit Naruto with a resonance. Leveling Hiruzen with a determined expression, he promised,

"I will do my best, Jiji. I promise I will be the best Jinchuuriki in all the Hidden Villages!" Naruto exclaimed with a bit of his old enery returning.

Hiruzen had no doubt in Naruto, his old face shone with pride in the young genin.

"Before you go, I need to talk to you about the Jutsu you learned tonight..".

Naruto gave him a slightly apprehensive look, knowing full well that stealing secret or forbidden jutsu was not something to take lightly.

"I must caution you that if you intend to use it for training or study purposes, to use it in moderation."

Naruto was floored all panic vanishing instantly. He did not expect anything like this.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Well, the memories of each shadow clone are transferred to the user when it is dispelled. Which makes it a very useful tool for learning. With your chakra capacity, you should be able to use the technique to its optimal potential. That being said, if you are using several clones for this purpose you should dispel them in intervals so that your brain isn't overloaded." Hiruzen explained. Gaining a pained expression he added, "I can tell you, that kind of sensory overload is very painful, you don't want to overdo it."

Naruto's mind was spinning with the possibilities.

"Thats amazing jiji! With this I can become Hokage even faster! I can learn the boring stuff while I train!" Naruto exclaimed, his grin slightly feral.

After thanking the Sandaime for the advice he sped out the door. Hiruzen watched him go, he could not help but think that he had just witnessed an important moment in the young ninja's career.

Naruto found himself waiting at training ground seven the next morning. He had arrived two hours prior in order to prepare for what he was sure was going to be a combat test of some sort.

As the hour of their test was approaching he saw his pinkette teammate enter the training ground. He realized that their previous encounters had been less than pleasant. Mainly because he had hit on her so bluntly, which usually resulted in a violent reaction from the girl. As happy as he was that his crush was now on his team, and they would likely be working together for the foreseeable future, he decided that he should at least try to be her friend, and try to be professional. Thus, putting a smile on his face he called out to her.

"Hey Sakura, You ready for the survival training?"

The skinny pinkette merely nodded a slight smile as greeting. She didn't want to deal with Naruto's flirting today, she had finally gotten a chance to win the affection of her crush, and she didn't want Naruto to spoil it.

The clearing for training ground seven had three target posts, as Naruto was current sitting with his back against the center post, Sakura decided to perch herself atop the left post to wait for their third team mate and sensei.

Naruto was fine to sit in a comfortable silence with the girl. He was still thinking about his conversation with the sandaime from the night before. He had learned the reason for the hate he had been receiving his entire life. The sandaime explained that the children of his generation were not aware of his involvement with the Kyuubi, but the feelings of their parents had bled into them. He knew that those of the shinobi clans did not outright hate him but still had treated him with indifference. Thinking back, Naruto preffered it that way, he would be able to show them all what he was capable of. He realized that he did not know much of anything about clans or how they worked. Remembering Gai-sensei's words about shinobi clan's producing the most powerful shinobi, he decided that if he was going to surpass the shinobi born to clans, he would need to know what he was up against.

Taking the Sandaime's advice he deployed two shadow clones disguised as non-descript chuunin into the shinobi library to learn everything they can about the shinobi clans of Konoha.

It was early this morning that the memories of his clones had returned to him. Incredibly he had perfect and precise memory of the book his clones had read. He had realized something important though. There were shinobi clans not only in Konoha, but in every elemental nation, and even some that were independent from the Five Great Nations. So, he deployed four shadow clones with the same mission. Learn everything they can about shinobi clans.

As Naruto sat against the post, he decided he needed to know what things were important for him to learn. He resolved to visit the sandaime tonight after training to ask for advice.

Sakura sat in silence atop her post, she was watching Naruto closely. The blonde genin was just sitting against the target post, staring off into space. Idly she noticed he had changed his outfit, He was no longer wearing his orange jumpsuit. Thinking back to the day before, she realized he had been wearing this outfit since he arrived to take the graduation test, she had to admit - he looked much better this way...

The young kunoichi's thoughts were broken by the appearance of Sasuke Uchiha, who had just leapt off a tree brach nearby and landed nearby.

"Where have you been, bastard?" Naruto asked with a grin

"Hn, Training, Like you should be, deadlast" Sasuke retorted.

This was how it was with Sasuke, they had a fierce rivalry that at times felt like a close friendship and at others felt hostile. Gai-sensei had often told him that sasuke was his 'eternal rival' and as sasuke was an Uchiha, was a perfect rival for Naruto to have. He had often said the same to Lee about Neji, they too had a fierce rivalry.

Whatever their relationship was, Naruto knew that ever since _that day, he_ and Sasuke had formed a bond that would last forever.

The day the Uchiha Clan was massacred.

_A young Naruto and Sasuke had become fast friends early that morning. They had spent the entire day playing ninja in trees of one of the many parks in Konoha. They had been having so much fun, that Sasuke had invited Naruto to his home for dinner. Although Naruto was very nervous about meeting the clan heir's parents, he swallowed his fear of rejection and accepted._

_The two young boys entered the Uchiha Clan's compound just as the sun had almost set. Naruto stared wide eyed at the obvious wealth of the Uchiha. The compound was filled with large modern houses and littered with large fountains, paved pathways along pristine grass. As they passed the center of the compound, whereall the paths intersected Sasuke stopped._

_"Thats weird, I wonder where everyone is?" he asked aloud. "Normally there are tons of people out. Even the guards are gone" He added as he pointed to a small tower along the wall._

_Naruto wilted slightly. "It's probably because of me... Maybe I should just go, before someone comes and takes Sasuke away"._

_They continued olong the path, as they passed one of the houses along the path, Sasuke stopped and ran towards an open door. Laying in a pool of blood on the doorstep was a young woman._

_"Auntie! What happened? Are you okay!?" Sasuke yelled in a panic. Shaking the woman and not getting any response he began to tear up._

_"Sasuke! I think something really bad has happened here! We have to get out of here, now!" Naruto exclaimed a great deal of panic in his voice._

_"Mom!" Sasuke yelled in shock and took off at a full run towards what was obviously the Clan head's hourse. _

_Naruto easily caught up to his friend and they crashed into the large house. Together the ran from room to room checking for Sasuke's parents or family members._

_As they climbed to top floor of the building they came to a halt. At the end of the narrow hallway was a man cloaked completely in black, there was a woman standing in front of him, and a man lay dead behind the cloaked figure._

_They two young boys were too shocked and frightened to move, neither could speak. That is, until the woman crumpled to the floor, a katana lodged in her chest._

_"MOTHER!" Sasuke screamed as he ran at the cloaked man. When the man turned Sasuke froze in his advance._

_"Nii-san? ...but... wha- Why?! What are you doing Itachi!?" Sasuke screamed._

_Itachi stood impassively his eyes were not the onyx black that most Uchiha possessed, Instead it was the sharingan,but this was unlike any sharingan Naruto had ever seen before._

_"ITACHI! Why did you kill mother?! Wh- Wh-" Sasuke's sentences were cut off as he seemed to hyperventilate in his panic._

_Itachi's payed his younger brother no attention however. All of his focus was on Naruto, who stoop at the end of the long narrow hallway now gripping an old rusty kunai._

_Naruto was afraid, more afraid than he had ever been in before in his life. He could feel his death approaching, he knew that there was nothing he could do, this man was going to kill him. Briefly he thought about throwing his knife and running, but when the killer stepped towards sasuke, everything changed._

_It was like he was an auto-pilot, with a single step, Naruto vanished from the hallway, and in nearly the same moment, he was in front of Sasuke, weapon poised defensively._

_Itachi stopped in his advance. The blonde child had moved at a speed that even his mangekyou sharingan had barely tracked. That is not the only thing that had caused him to halt though. It was the odd energy that had appeared in that moment. It was gone nearly as fast as it had appeared, but it was the most potent energy he had ever felt before. He wondered if it had been the Kyuubi's power leaking from the seal, but his thoughts were interrupted by the blonde jinchuuriki._

_"Get back! Stay away from Sasuke!" Naruto yelled fiercely._

_"Or what? What can you do against my power?" Itachi asked emotionlessly._

_"I know I can't beat you, but you will have to kill me first if you want to get Sasuke!"_

_"Why do you protect him? Why would you die for him?" Itachi questioned._

_"He is my friend! I will never let you kill him! I will protect him with my life!" Naruto declared._

_"So be it. You shall share his fate." Itachi intoned darkly._

_Both boys could only watch in awe and horror as the strange Sharingan eyes began to spin hypnotically before they both succumbed to Tsukiyomi._

"I train plenty, bastard. In fact, I wonder if you could even make me break a sweat." Naruto declared confidently.

"Tough talk for someone who barely passed the graduation exam." Sasuke smirked.

Sasuke leaned against the third target post and the trio fell in silence as they waited for their sensei to arrive.

Naruto watched Kakashi from his perch in a nearby tree. Their sensei, after arriving an hour late, had quickly explained the parameters for their 'true' graduation test. Somehow they were expected to take on a jounin. However, thier objective was fairly simple - retrieve the bells.

The three shinobi had quickly seperated and hid in the forest surrounding the clearing. Naruto knew there was only one way to get the bells, luckily, he had prepared for a combat test.

Creating two shadow clones he discreetly sent them to inform his team of his plan. Taking a deep breath, Naruto jumped from his hiding place and landed a short distance from kakashi.

"Wow, you really aren't very smart are you?" Kakashi said flatly.

Naruto rushed at him a right hook ready to drive kakashi into the ground. Kakashi merely kicked him in the chest sending him back exactly where he had started his attack.

Growling, Naruto made a quick handsign and summoned six shadow clones. With a battle cry seven Naruto's charged the silver haired jounin. Without touching a single clone, he dodged every strike and caused the clones to dispel each other. When only one remained, he kicked him square in the chest.

As he rubbed his sore chest, Naruto realized he had again landed in the very same spot he had landed before.

_"Wow, He's not just beating me easily but he's playing with me." _Naruto realized.

Taking a deep calming breath, he made a decision.

"Sensei, I would really appreciate it if you would keep our fight as a team secret. I'd like to keep some of my moves a secret as much as I can."

This took Kakashi slightly by surprise. but he responded kindly, his one visible eye showing his sincerity.

"Of course, Naruto. Assuming you somehow pass, I promise to not reveal any of your or your teammate's secrets." Kakashi promised.

Sasuke and Sakura had both taken up their positions near the target posts hidden well behind a tree. It was Sakura who spoke first after hearing this request.

"What does he mean? What kind of secret could he have? A secret jutsu maybe?"

"I don't know, that shadow clone jutsu is new. He never knew that technique before he graduated, if he did he would have passed easily. It's an A-rank Kinjutsu. Who knows what other techniques he has" Sasuke explained scowling.

Carefully taking off his jacket, Naruto tossed it high into the air to his left. Sakura and Sasuke stared flatly at the blonde;s showoffy antics, thier eyes widened in surprise when the jacket slammed into the ground audibly and created and indention in the grass.

Kakashi's one visible eye widened in surprise when the jacket impacted the earth. _'That must have weighed fifty pounds! What the hell?!'_

Naruto slid fluidly into his Goken stance and leveled Kakashi with a determined look. That was the image that finally made Kakashi sweat slightly. _'Oh shit! Gai! You didn't!?'_

Kakashi didn't have time to complete his train of thought because Naruto was upon him faster than he had ever expected. With two solid hits to face and mid-section, Kakashi was unable to block the kick to his chin that had sent him flying into the air. In a burst of speed Naruto was under him.

At that moment, a flurry of weapons converged from both sides. Not expecting his other two genin's vield attack. Kakashi was forced into shifting into serious mode. '_So they are working together...good.'_

Manuevering mid-air Kakashi deflected the projectiles, and then moved to counter Naruto. Kakashi had much experience against the Dancing Leaf Shadow  technique. Easily anticipating the attack he countered and flung the blonde teen against a tree that caused it to splinter from the impact. Wincing Naruto dusted himself off and settled into the Goken once again.

"So, you have trained with Gai, have you" Kakashi said, it wasn't a question.

"Yes. Please do not tell anyone, It would not be good for his reputation if the villagers found out." Naruto asked pleadingly.

"Gai, would have been very disappointed in you for using that technique. I know for a fact that he puts very strict conditions for permitting that technique's use."

Naruto wilted under the reprimand. "Sometimes, A shinobi must disobey orders, sensei."

Sasuke and Sakura were confused about this. "He's been training with someone? Who's this Gai person? And why would it be bad for him to train Naruto?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

"I think most villagers hate Naruto, Sakura. You've seen how they treat him before haven't you? I bet those people would probably hate anyone who trained him too." Sasuke answered not taking his eyes off the fight. "Get ready its almost time".

Taking off again, Naruto engaged Kakashi in hand to hand combat. Kakashi had begun to taunt Naruto by complimenting his prowess, while each time he left an opening he would correct his mistake with a harsh attack. They continued until Naruto jumped away suddenly. Kakashi was confused until it was too late, the ground beneath him exploded, both scorching him slightly and sending rocks at that he was forced to block.

While Kakashi blocked the oncoming debris Naruto delivered a kick to the side of his head. Kakashi recovered easily by rolling into a crouch. Again, the ground exploded from underneath him. A little less surprised this team, he was able to avoid being burnt however he was forced to defend himself as twelve Narutos were upon him. He easily began to dispatch the clones until two grabbed to of his arms.

Not to be taken so easily he slammed his arms together, causing the clones to smash heads and dispell. The distraction was enough, because he failed to notice a fireball heading straight for him. Kakashi tried to move, but found he was tied to ninja wire. One held by Sakura, The other by Naruto.

The fireball slammed into Kakashi full force. leaving an enormous scorch mark were he once stood.

"Oh my god!" Sakura screeched. "We killed Kakashi-sensei!"

"I wish." Sasuke scoffed. Sakura gave him a horrified look. "What? I wish it would be that easy to kill a jounin." he added.

"He's right Sakura." Kakashi's voice called from behind them.

Atop the center target post, Kakashi stood mostly unharmed with an eye-smiile. In his right hand was their alarm clock.

"That was very impressive teamwork. You actually had me sweating there for a minute. Well...Kind of" he added the last part with a bit of a laugh. "Sasuke, It would be nice if jounin were that easy to kill, but you have to understand that a jounin is always going to be worlds out of your league as genin. You made a very solid attempt. But im afraid..."

The alarm went off.

"You all fail"

It was at these words that each of the teens smiled ferally.

Sasuke and Sakura reached into each of their pockets and pulled out a single silver bell.

Kakashi's eye widened in shock. He quickly checked his belt. "What the hell?! When- How did you two get the bells?" He demanded.

"Actually sensei, Naruto got both of them." Sakura said sheepishly.

"When?" He asked, alittle more calmly.

Naruto flopped to the ground. Wiping the sweat from his face, he gave a foxy grin.

"It was when I used the Dancing Leaf Shadow, sensei. Normally the technique is used to help the user perform the Lotus technique, but I used it to slip behind you and steal the bells without you noticing. You were so focused on countering what you thought was going to be the Lotus, that you didn't even notice." he explained. "The problem was, I was only able to grab one." he added.

Sakura finished, "The second bell was grabbed by a shadow clone that was disguised as a kunai. I threw it behind you before we tied you up." she explained with pride.

Kakashi looked at Naruto for a moment. "So what about when you said Shinobi must sometimes disobey orders?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, a nervous habit he had picked up years ago. "Well, that was supposed to be apart of the deception. But it's true, right sensei?" He asked

Kakashi nodded solemnly. "That is correct. Sometimes it is necessary to disobey orders. I once believed that shinobi who disobeyed orders were trash. but after some very harsh lessons, I learned that those who abandon their comrades, even for the sake of their orders, are far worse than trash. I hope you all will remember that."

"Anyway, Naruto it looks like you are the only one without a bell. Are you sure you want to abandon becoming a genin? You were the one who got the bells after all." Kakashi asked.

"Are you sure Naruto?" Sakura asked a worriedly. "I didn't really do anything, You did most of the work, you should pass."

"As much as I hate to admit it, but it was your plan. You should pass." Sasuke added

"Nah, If it means you guys get to pass. Ill wait till next year." Naruto said resolutely.

Kakashi smiled at three genin. "Alight, well then...Congratulations, you all pass."

**A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter. This closes the 'build up' arc to my story. Things are going to heat up in the next chapter as we descend into the Wave Arc. You probably noticed that Naruto had a sort of flashback into the Uchiha massacre. You will learn a bit more about what happened there later, as well as get a glimpse into the darker side of naruto's life from over the time skip. It will play an important role in the story's original plot, so I hope you like it. So far this has been pretty Canon, Things will start to stray from Canon more and more as we go along.**

**As always R&R. I look forward to reading your thoughts.**


	4. Waves of Grey

Mists

Chapter 4: Waves of Grey

Naruto jumped from rooftop to rooftop on his way to the main gate. He was meeting his team for their first C Rank mission. As he made his way through the busy shopping district, he thought about the conversation he had just had with Ayame and Tuechi.

_Flashback_

_Naruto was sitting at the bar, for once not stuffing his face but merely sipping some water as he listened to Ayame rant about a customer who had apparently bothered her earlier that day._

_"Yeah, Kiba pervs on girls all the time, Ayame-chan. Don't let it bother you." Naruto laughed as she huffed at his nonchalant attitude._

_"Fine, but if you know him so well, why don't you tell him to cut it out." She demanded._

_"Alright, alright. I'll tell him your off limits, I promise" Naruto chuckled._

_Naruto calmed himself down when Tuechi came in from the back. "Hey Tuechi! Listen I have some big news!" he said in a grandiose way._

_Tuechi raised an eyebrow at the blonde nin. "Oh?"_

_"Yep! My team just got assigned our first real mission! It's a C rank! We will be escorting a bridge builder to the Land of Waves." Naruto made a face. "He's kind of a drunk. But after all of the boring teamwork training Kakashi-sensei has been putting us through, this is going to be awesome!"_

_Tuechi grinned wide at the exuberant young nin. "That's great! Be sure to be on your best behavior, and to do your best. If you do a good job and show your employer that you can be a professional ninja, your career can really take off from here. Remember, your employer will submit an evaluation of your mission to the Hokage and Daimyo council. Word will spread and you can start making a name for yourself."_

_Naruto thought about this. He didn't really think about it that way, he was just excited to get some real action. He would need to be a bit more serious on this mission. "Thanks Tuechi, that helps allot! I'll do my best!" Naruto grinned wide before a thought seemed to hit him. "Oh yeah! I wanted to know if you would look after my place for me while I'm gone Ayame" Naruto pulled a key from his pocket and handed it to Ayame._

_Ayame's face lit up at the proposition. "Of course! I'd be happy to!" She seemed very excited for some reason before she calmed down a bit. "How long will you be gone, Naruto-kun?"_

_Naruto thought for a moment. "About two weeks maybe. Sensei told us to pack a month's worth of supplies though, so there may be a chance it could take longer."_

_"Wow, That's a really long mission. Is it going to be dangerous?" Her voice no longer sounded excited but now sounded worried. Tuechi merely stayed silent._

_"Well, Yeah it could be dangerous, but don't worry Ayame, Kakashi sensei will be there. He is one of the most famous Jounin in the Five Great Nations. I doubt there will be anything too dangerous with him there." Naruto explained._

_That seemed to ease her worries for the most part. Naruto pulled a watch from his pocket and checked the time. "Oh crap! Sorry guys I gotta go! I'll see you later!" Naruto picked up a scroll from the seat next to him and fastened it to his belt. Before he could exit the ramen bar, Ayame's voice stopped him._

_Naruto turned just in time to catch a teary Ayame who had lunged and hugged him tightly. Ayame was still slightly taller than him; he rested his chin on her shoulder and returned the hug. "Please be careful, promise me you won't do something stupid." she said into his hair._

_Naruto smiled. "Come on, Ayame, it's me. You know I can't promise something like that." Ayame laughed at the attempt to ease her worry. _

_"I've got to go Ayame." Naruto said as he tried to remove himself from her embrace. "Ayame"_

_She wasn't letting go. Naruto sighed and then threw a mischievous look at Tuechi. Tuechi palmed his face, knowing what was likely to happen. _

_Naruto slid his hands down her back to her waist. He sucked in a breath and focused. Gathering his resolve he slid one down to her butt and squeezed once._

_Ayame squealed loudly and pushed Naruto back before throwing a devastating punch at his face. Her fist connected and Naruto exploded into a cloud of smoke, in the air where her fist was outstretched was a piece of paper. Ayame, blushing furiously and irritated at his escape snatched it out of the air and examined it. it read: 'See you in a month Ayame!'. In the corner was a doodle of Naruto flashing a peace sign._

_Ayame whirled an her chuckling father. "I HATE that Substitution Jutsu."_

_Tuechi merely laughed harder._

_Flashback end_

Naruto was still wearing a foxy grin when he landed in front of his team.

"Your late brat!" Tazuna snapped.

Naruto seemed to think hard about a response before he looked to Tazuna and said. "Bite me you old drunk! Sensei isn't even here yet!". 'Forget professionalism, this old fart needs to sober up.'

Tazuna and Naruto began to bicker back and forth about whether or not it mattered if Naruto was late if their sensei wasn't even there. The argument lasted ten minutes into journey, when Naruto finally huffed in exasperation and took position at point.

"Wow Tazuna, You actually wore his nerve down. That may be the first time I've seen that happen." Kakashi noted with amusement.

Tazuna chuckled as well. "That kids all right. He reminds me of my son-in-law, before he died".

Kakashi noticed the mixed emotions that statement held and decided not to comment on it for now.

Team seven had been traveling all day and had finally set camp a short distance off the main road. Everyone had set their tents and where getting ready for dinner. Sakura was setting the fire, while Naruto and Sasuke were out hunting. Kakashi was reclining in a tree overhead while Tazuna was scribbling in a notebook.

Sakura sighed in frustration. She had been a part of team seven for nearly four months now and if she was honest with herself, she was having a hard time. For starters, the gap in ability between her and her other two teammates were abundantly clear. She had been trying her best, but she had a very hard time keeping pace with Sasuke and Naruto. During their exercises she was always first to drop from exhaustion and during their survival training she was always the first one 'killed' whenever their team engaged in combat.

_Flashback_

_Team seven was sitting on the ground as they listened to Kakashi lecture about their new survival training._

_"You three have done well learning the team formations and teamwork drills so far. So as a reward, we are going to take things up a notch." Kakashi declared with an eye smile._

_"You three will enter the forest outside the east gate. You will have 5 hours to set camp and organize a plan. Your objective is to guard this civilian couple." Kakashi made two shadow clones which henged into a nondescript civilian couple. "You will use teamwork to survive as long as possible. I will create and lead a team of enemy ninja to attack you." At this, 3 Shadow clones appeared behind Kakashi before henging into ninja wearing flak jackets and blank headbands. Kakashi made a sign and henged into a bulky ninja wearing a mask and grey shinobi gear. In a deep scratchy voice that sounded nothing like him he continued. "It will start out easy. My team will fight at the level of average bandits. The longer you survive, the stronger my team will become. You will progress through Bandit level, to civilian militia level (pre-genin level), Genin, Chuunin, and Jounin levels C, B, and A_ "._ At this his team had worried expressions on their faces. "Don't worry, You won't be expected to fight anything higher than genin level for awhile. Certainly not Jounin until much later in your career."_

_Sakura raised her hand. "Sensei, does that mean you intend to continue training with us even after we are promoted to Chuunin?"_

_Kakashi gained a thoughtful expression. "Well, ordinarily that would not be the case. But my sensei imposed on my team the importance of keeping our team strong. The highest ranked missions are assigned to teams that work efficiently together and carry a strong bond. When he became Hokage, he encouraged all teams to continue working with their original genin teams as much as possible in order to keep our strongest ninja combinations working effective with one another." Kakashi explained he paused as he gazed into the sky. "Many ninja who are assigned genin teams become very close friends with one another. Some become as close as family, others even end up married to one another." _

_The three teens blushed at the proposition. Sakura began glancing sideways at Sasuke who was trying very hard to ignore her. Naruto was glancing at Sakura oddly, Kakashi couldn't tell what kind of thoughts he was having though._

_"Anyway. We will start your survival training...Hmm. let's see..." The disguised Kakashi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Now."_

_Naruto gasped loudly before grabbing and still surprised Sasuke and Sakura by the wrists and taking off towards the forest. _

_End flashback_

Sakura was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice that Naruto had just dropped a sack of fish in front of her and had flopped down beside her. "How about I give you a hand with these?" Naruto said with a small smile as he pulled a fish from the sack and began to skin it.

Sakura looked over at him a blushed slightly. He had hung his shirt and jacket on a branch nearby. She couldn't stop herself from admiring his physique. This was the other problem she was having since she joined team seven. Naruto.

Sakura had fallen in love at first sight when she met Sasuke Uchiha. The Last Uchiha was the most sought after boy throughout the entire academy. Even the older girls fawned over him. That didn't stop her though, she had been trying for years to gain his affection but nothing seemed to work. She had thought she had the perfect chance when she was placed on team seven with him. She was convinced that the harsh training would push them together and he would finally notice her.

Sadly, she had been relatively wrong. He did notice her now, but there was never any real closeness between them. Then she had been surprised by her other teammate.

Naruto had been very kind to her since they joined team seven. He had done his best to encourage her and pick up the slack when she had struggled. They had grown pretty close over the last few months since Kakashi had stepped up their training. Sakura was never really friends with him in the academy. In fact, she and Ino had only really interacted with him when they would tease him or laugh at one of his pranks. Sakura couldn't really decide if they were friends now, or If he was just trying to be a good teammate. There was one thing that she had begun to notice more and more recently however - Naruto was pretty hot.

So, between Sasuke's indifference and the increasing closeness with Naruto, Sakura was becoming frustrated with her feelings that had seemed to have lost all semblance of order and had descended into a whirlwind of chaos in her mind.

Sasuke entered the clearing carrying a stack of small logs in one arm and a bundle of sticks in the other. He set them both down nearby and flopped down at the base of Kakashi's tree.

Camp was quiet for the most part. Naruto was telling Tazuna about some of his grand adventures. Most of which were tales of him running from people after pranking them. Everyone laughed right along with him, and Sakura even re-told a few of the stories from her point of view. Tazuna seemed to really lighten up after he had sobered up and eaten a decent meal.

"You know, Pinky" Tazuna began. "you remind me so much of my daughter when she was your age. Let me show you a picture" Tazuna rose and crawled into his tent. "Tsunami had quite the temper as well." Naruto snorted and rolled to the ground laughing at that comment. Sakura was about to pound him when the camp erupted into chaos.

Kakashi was about to take a bite of his fish, when a chain coiled around his body and yanked him through the air. He slammed hard into the bark of a large tree.

Kakashi gained a panicked expression and began wildly looking for the attacker. "Naruto! Protect Tazuna! Take him and get out of here!". Any further instruction would never be heard, because Kakashi was silenced when a wicked looking shuriken struck him in the face, spraying gore everywhere.

Sakura had frozen in fear a what she had just witnessed. The world went into blur around her, Her shocked state was broken when a two ninja wearing breathing masks dropped into the clearing. One of the nin yelled something she couldn't quite hear.

Sasuke had snapped into action the moment Kakashi had been pinned to the tree. He had rushed to his sensei's aid but had been unable to reach him in time. Gritting his teeth, he rounded on the two ninja who had just revealed themselves.

The ninja closest to him withdrew a handful of kunai, "Not so fast!" he yelled before throwing them and making a handsign. Sasuke's eyes widened in horror when he realized that the kunai weren't aimed at him but were directed at the tent where Naruto had just dived into. Sasuke launched himself at the distracted nin and dispatched him with a devastating roundhouse kick to the temple. The masked nin crumpled to the ground instantly.

Sasuke had rolled out of his attack and prepared to attack the other assailant. His focus was disrupted by Sakura's high-pitched scream. "NARUTO! NO!"

Sasuke felt it before he saw it. The tent containing Naruto and Tazuna had erupted into a fiery whirlwind of detonating explosive tags. Something had snapped in that moment, he had just witnessed the death of one of his only real friend. Growling in anger he launched himself at the other ninja.

The remaining ninja was unprepared for the attack by the younger ninja. With speed beyond the norm, Sasuke had snapped his fist back and drove a downward strike into the ninja's face. His mist headband clattered to the floor. The mist ninja rose clutching his eye with one hand, blood was flowing freely down his face and his wild black hair hung loosely over the side of his face. "You stupid brat! I'll KILL YOU!" he roared.

Sasuke was forced to move as the ninja lunged at him, threatening to impale him with his claw gauntlet. Sasuke continued to dodge strikes. The mist ninja was very skilled, Sasuke was beginning to worry if he could keep this up for much longer. He watched each strike flow past him as he deftly maneuvered around the camp ground. It was when he noticed the chain still attached the fallen mist-nin that he came up with a plan.

Leading the ninja a short distance away, Sasuke suddenly jumped back. Flipping in the air he landed next to the unconscious mist-nin. He leveled a kunai to the ninja's neck, "Stay where you are! or your partner dies!". It was a bluff, but he was certain it would work.

"Foolish Child!" the mist-nin yelled as he threw himself at Sasuke. Sasuke was so shocked by the action that it was all he could do to raise the kunai to deflect the attack. Then suddenly, the mist-nin stumbled back from the force of the deflected blow. Sasuke took the advantage and made lunging sweep with his kunai at the ninjas neck. The ninja twisted his body to avoid it, but ended up taking the strike across the chest.

Sasuke rolled away from the ninja who he had just struck. Panting in exhaustion he found himself next to a still stunned Sakura staring blankly where the tent still burned wildly.

Sasuke kept his focus on his target though. He had just landed a lethal blow, he could get them out of this yet. However his thoughts were broken when the ninja did something he had worried might happen.

The remaining mist-nin began to go through a series of hand signs. Sasuke prepared himself for what ninjutsu he was sure was coming. He never saw what jutsu was coming though, because a dozen figures fell from the treetops and converged on the mist ninja.

Sasuke watched with relief and shock as twelve Naruto's fell into the clearing before quickly, and rather brutishly knocking the ninja unconscious.

The clones quickly began subduing the fallen assailants with ninja wire as Kakashi dropped down next to the two genin. "Great job Sasuke, you fought very well." he praised with an eye smile.

"Kakashi sensei! Your alive!" Sakura exclaimed with surprise and relief. "But we saw you-" Looking over near the tree Kakashi had been pinned, they saw a log with the shuriken lodged tightly into it.

"Sorry for worrying you guys". He said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But I needed to see who their target was. Whether this was merely ninja attacking ninja, or if they were after our client." At this Tazuna walked into the tree line looking very shaken, but otherwise fine.

"Sensei, it looks like these where missing-nin" Naruto reported as he approached the group. His clones had already dispelled, and both mist ninja where tied to a tree a short distance away. "Take a look". Naruto handed the headband that had fallen off of Sasuke's opponent to Kakashi upon closer inspection Sasuke noticed the slash cut into the Hidden Mist symbol.

Kakashi took it and nodded. "Yeah, I know of these two. They are the Demon Brothers. C-rank missing-nin from The Village Hidden in the Mist. Specializing in poisons and assassination. Chuunin-level. Bounty around 200,000 ryo". he recited as if he were reading it straight from the Bingo Book.

Naruto's eyebrows rose is surprise. "We just took down two Chuunin level missing-nin?"

"Well..." Kakashi pointed to Sasuke. "Sasuke took down one and had the other on the ropes before you jumped in."

Naruto waved off his point. "So it was a team effort." he slapped Sasuke hard on the back. "Good job, teme."

Sakura looked downcast at her feet. "I didn't do anything...I was completely useless."

Naruto glanced at Sakura, it looked like he was going going to say something encouraging, but Kakashi beat him to it. "You're right Sakura. You froze during combat and couldn't help your team when things appeared their worst." Sakura's eyes began to tear up at his honesty. "But that is normal the first time you experience real combat. It happens to most genin on their first real mission. You have experienced real shinobi combat now, and next time you will be ready for it." Kakashi finished with a tone that expressed complete confidence.

Sakura wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled at her sensei. "Thanks...Ill will be ready next time, I promise" she declared with renewed spirit.

Kakashi put a hand on top of her head. "I know you will."

Turning to his other genin, he addressed them both. "Again, great work Sasuke. But keep in mind you were fighting fully trained, veteran Chuunin that have made a very ruthless record in the Bingo Book. You were very fortunate to have caught one of them off guard. Their strength relies solely on double-team tactics and combinations. By removing one from combat, your put your enemy at a great disadvantage. While very skilled together, they are very weak alone. Do not become overconfident in your abilities Sasuke, If this were any other Chuunin team; you might not have managed so well." Kakashi then directed his attention to Naruto. "And where were you while your teammate was fighting a dangerous enemy?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Honestly sensei? After I moved Tazuna a short distance away. I was kind of just waiting up in the trees. I was certain that there was a third or fourth member of their squad that was waiting to ambush us if things began to heat up. So I made some clones and was preparing to jump in when they attacked...", Naruto got a frustrated look. "But when Sasuke landed that last blow and nobody jumped in to help, I knew I was wrong. So I dropped in to end it before things could get too messy."

Kakashi thought for a moment, before he nodded. "That was a good decision Naruto. Excellent analytical skills in a very chaotic moment." You and I will need to work on some effective tactics to make use of you clones. Swarming your opponent with overwhelming numbers won't work once you encounter an enemy at a certain level." Kakashi then changed his tone to a much cheerier one. "I'm very proud of you both."

Kakashi then rounded on their client. "Tazuna, I think it's time you told us what's going on here."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! This chapter begins Wave arc, and as you can tell, things are already different from canon. The mission to wave will be bit longer in terms of how much time passes over the course the mission. I'd love to know what you think about this chapter, if you got some time. drop a review. Also, Im not certain how this usually works, but it would be great to see this story in one of the communities. If you know how I can make that happen. please let me know!**

**A/N 2: I would also like to do a bit of plugging. to those who are interested. With this chapter I am publishing the first chapter of Mists: Beyond the Veil of Death (tentaive title). This is the Bleach-Crossover part to this story. Along with this story, I am also publishing my HP fanfic; Immortals (Again, Tentative title). So if you are interested, please check them out.**


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